Tag: Felipe Mora
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The Portland Timbers hosted New York City FC last Saturday and got a 1-1 draw. Evander scored for the home team, while Keaton Parks did so for the visitors. It was an entertaining match where the Timbers created the most chances but couldn’t put more than one in the back of the net to secure a win at home.
Déjà vu
Saturday’s night game was fun to watch—to some extent. We had two teams who were playing under similar circumstances this season, and the question was which was going to take advantage of the other to earn three points. Both sides created chances, and we saw action from box to box in the second half.
The visitors didn’t create much in the first forty-five minutes. NYC only had one shot in the entire half, while the Timbers had seven, two of which went on goal. So it was only a matter of time—we would think, as if soccer usually works that way!—for Portland to open the score. In the 38th minute, Evander found the back of the net.
Nonetheless, it didn’t take long in the second half for NYC to find the equalizer.
The visitors woke up in the second half, and the game turned out to be more open, with looks for both teams. Santiago Moreno had the best opportunity for the Timbers in the second half, but he didn’t hit the ball properly and ended up shooting way too wide. Another good Portland chance came in the last minute of the game, in a free kick, when Evander hit the post.
In the Timbers’ previous game against Chicago, Portland looked very sterile in all the lines of the field. This time was different. They played better but didn’t create many quality chances (xG = 1.03), and in the end, they only got a point out of this match.
“Déjà vu. It’s the same story every day,” Timbers head coach Gio Savarese said after the game. “Played really well. The guys are giving it everything despite injuries and limitations. I don’t know what happened; somebody put something around the goal that doesn’t let us put goals in.”
I agree with the coach. Can someone please, break the curse, so the Timbers can start scoring multiple goals in a single game again?
Maybe the visitor’s center-back Maxime Chanot had something to do with Portland’s struggles, since he registered 17 clearances in the entire game. You could say he’s NYC’s Zac McGraw.
More help is coming
Felipe Mora is back, and that’s something to celebrate.
“I’m glad to have another quality player available, especially Felipe,” Savarese said. “We know how important he has been. Only 20 minutes available today. but hopefully he continues to build up in the minutes and we continue to have a competition in that position.”
When the Chilean entered the game in the 76th minute, the entire Providence Park cheered for him.
“I’m very grateful,” Mora said. “I honestly didn’t expect so much love and noise when I entered the pitch tonight. That felt really nice. It felt like I was born again when I came in. They’ve been sending so many messages throughout this whole time and since I got here to this club.
“I’m just very happy and very grateful for them,” he said.
Another Timber who deserves a mention is Noel Caliskan. The German made his debut in this game, after signing a contract first with the first team at the end of April.
An @MLS debut for #92 🥹
Congrats, Noel Caliskan 👏#RCTID pic.twitter.com/uEjsVg5bVe
— Portland Timbers (@TimbersFC) June 25, 2023
The 22-year-old came into the game in the second half for Cristhian Paredes who, according to his coach, had some hamstring pain and had to leave the field.
The youngster did well in the midfield, especially in the passing accuracy department. He had 91.3% passing accuracy overall—and 88.9% in the opponent’s half.
Still, there’s room for improvement in Caliskan communication and aerial duels. NYC’s equalizer from a set piece came after Juan David Mosquera lost Keaton Park’s mark, and Calistan couldn’t win the aerial duel. But the truth is, Keaton did very well getting rid of his mark, rose higher than anyone, and headed that ball home—a shot with an xG of 14.72%.
The backline had a good game overall
Savarese was very happy with the performance his backline put on. He said it was difficult to leave Eric Miller on the bench but that he went with the four defenders he felt could get the job done. They did a “phenomenal job,” he said. The coach also highlighted how well his team managed the ball and their success defending as a unit and in transitions.
In the absence of Zac McGraw—one of the best defenders on the team this season—Portland did well and didn’t give many opportunities to NYC. It’s too bad that Keaton found the back of the net in that set piece.
Aljaž Ivačič also had some good saves that prevented NYC from finding what could’ve been the winning goal.
Final thoughts
This game marked the end of three matches in one week, with the Timbers collecting only two points out of a possible nine. It is a no-brainer that this isn’t good enough, but what is more, Portland is now three points shy of the last playoff spot.
As we already said, they need to find a way to score multiple goals in a single match again. But more importantly, Portland needs to start getting wins.
In the following days, the attention won’t be just on the attack but also on the defense. We will see how the Timbers manage to play without McGraw—who will be on duty with the Canadian National Team—a player who has become instrumental in the backline.
We can’t wait to see Mora getting more minutes and see if he can help to fix the Timbers’ lack of goals. Now the players get to rest a little, with the next match coming next Saturday when they take the road to face Minnesota.
It took a while for the Timbers to break through against the LA Galaxy Saturday afternoon, but once they did it became a field day at Providence Park.
After a frustrating, scoreless first half, Portland found the opening goal they so desperately craved in the 47th minute. Forward Felipe Mora, who subbed on after Andy Polo left the game in first-half stoppage time due to a hard, unnecessary tackle, read the space and got on the end of a well-placed cross from outside back Josecarlos Van Rankin. From there, the Timbers scored two more times and cruised to a 3–0 victory against Los Angeles.
“The commitment to perform what we work on during the week is what coaches always want,” coach Giovanni Savarese said. “It shows what this team is all about. A united group that will fight. It doesn’t matter who goes out on the field, everybody’s going to try and perform for each other and today was another very good performance.”
Los Angeles provided a tough test for a Timbers team looking to build on their 2–0 win at San Jose a week ago. Coach Greg Vanney’s team entered the match on a two-game winning streak and took 12 of their first 18 possible points. Talented players such as Chicharito, Jonathan Dos Santos, Efrain Alvarez, and Julian Araujo dotted the visitors’ starting 11. Despite the talent on paper, however, they struggled to find any sort of rhythm against the hosts.
While it took Portland a while to grow into the match, the team looked solid defensively and did enough to prevent the Galaxy from finding too many dangerous opportunities. Still, for as solid as the Timbers looked, they struggled to find a decisive goal or opportunity of their own throughout the first half.
A lot of those squandered chances stemmed from trying for the jugular. Multiple times throughout the first half, Portland pushed the ball into the attacking third in transition before settling for a half chance. A ball into the box turned into an attempted bicycle kick by forward Dairon Asprilla. In another transition moment, outside back Claudio Bravo found himself with time and space and tried to laser the shot in from deep. Those opportunities came dangerously close both times, but were both still low-percentage chances.
Near the end of the first half, the Timbers went a man up after Los Angeles forward Derrick Williams received a straight red for his brutal aerial challenge on Polo. The Peruvian watched the second half on crutches and Savarese’s immediate update did not sound good.
“When there’s a tackle like that, you don’t want to see that on the field,” Savarese said. “Especially having players that then have to come out because of that situation. Right now, the most important part is hopefully Polo can come back.”
The reckless challenge quelled the crowd at Providence Park for a few minutes, but Portland eventually made the most they could of the man advantage. Mora said that the game changed once the red card was issued. Spaces between the Galaxy’s center backs opened up, which the team relentlessly exploited in the second half.
“It was very hard to find spaces, but after the red card we spoke at halftime,” Mora said through a translator. “We knew that we needed to be calm, patient, and wait for the right opportunities. Thankfully after the first goal, the game opened up more for all of us and we were able to get two more goals.”
Mora took advantage of the newly found space with his header to open the second half, then 13 minutes later, netted a brace. Once again, the Chilean forward showcased his movement in the box, but this time by reading a second ball. In a moment of chaos, Van Rankin’s floated shot hit the top post, Mora reacted first, and he powered another opportunistic header past goalkeeper Jonathan Bond.
To cap off the high-scoring second half, the Timbers received an opportunity from the penalty spot after Los Angeles defender Daniel Steres brought Van Rankin down in the box. Midfielder Diego Valeri, who missed a pair of penalties in Portland’s 2–1 loss against Seattle, once again stepped to the spot. This time, he left little doubt as he confidently blasted the ball past Bond for the 3–0 lead.
“I needed to score that goal,” Valeri said. “After missing those two PKs against Seattle, it was important for me to score that third goal and keep lifting the team. Anyone can miss a PK, but for me it was important to put the ball in the net and keep looking forward.”
Just as sweet as the win, the Timbers put together their second-consecutive clean sheet against a team that entered Saturday with 10 goals. The center back tandem of Dario Zuparic and Bill Tuiloma came up big, while loanee goalkeeper Logan Keterrer put together another impressive performance.
“I think that has come because of the discipline of the group in the way that the guys have performed, in the way that the guys have executed the plan that we put together,” Savarese said. “We have players that are sacrificing for others in order to make sure that we cover every space, and that’s what we’ve seen in the last two games.”
With the three points, Portland wrapped up their home schedule before the three-week international break on a strong note. The Timbers now travel to Philadelphia high on confidence for one final match before the break, playing with house money and a roster getting healthier by the day.
Portland coach Giovanni Savarese understood the task at hand before the Timbers even touched down in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, for the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League series against CD Marathón.
He knew that Marathón, a team that’s won just two of its first ten league games in the clausura season, wanted to make the most of a fresh start in a new competition. That they would be comfortable sitting back before springing into attack.
Earlier in the week, Savarese talked about the directness and individual talent Marathón possessed, and acknowledged that the opening game would be a good time for his team to test their mettle, especially with the ball.
In many ways, that’s exactly what played out on Tuesday in Portland’s 2–2 draw at the Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano. The Timbers finished the game with 58% of the possession, outshot Marathón 16–12, and completed 107 more passes.
In their first competitive game since the first round of the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs, Portland was given both the ball and the onus to do something with it against a compact opponent. While known more as a counter-attacking team in the Savarese era, the Timbers will face games where they need to break teams down with the ball. A season ago, the team showed progress in that facet of their game––hey, fewer hopeful crosses is always a good thing––and received an early opportunity to test themselves in possessional play this season.
“I thought it was very competitive, and I thought that we did a lot of very good things, especially in the first half,” Savarese said. “We created chances. Unfortunately, we couldn’t capitalize a little bit more on the chances we created.”
The Timbers started the match on the front foot and found themselves with multiple scoring opportunities early. Yimmi Chará continuously attacked Marathón left back Luis Vega down the right wing, which created danger right away. Winger Dairon Asprilla later bodied off a defender to get a shot off in the box that he dragged wide by a good margin. In the 27th minute, midfielder Eryk Williamson nearly pulled off a moment of magic with a side-footed shot that keeper Denovan Torres did well to save.
Then, in the 35th minute, Portland found its breakthrough when striker Felipe Mora brought down the ball in the box and squeezed the ensuing shot under Torres’ outstretched right hand.
The goal, while not flashy, perfectly exemplified the Timbers’ effective possession play. With the team in their attacking third, right back Josecarlos Van Rankin slowly made his way from the right side of the field to the left half-space where he received the ball from left back Claudio Bravo, beat two defenders, and chipped a ball with his left foot to Mora, who found the back of the net.
Van Rankin’s addition into the attack provided the Timbers with an offensive wrinkle in possession, which helped them break down coach Hector Vargas’ compact side. The right back’s presence in that left half-space drew Marathón center back Mathías Techera away from Mora for a split-second, which allowed the striker to control the ball and get a shot off. While there are potential drawbacks to that type of cross-field run––say the ball turns over quickly and that entire space is vacated––the addition of Van Rankin into the attack proved crucial in Portland’s first goal of 2021.
Savarese also asked Mora to drop into midfield from time to time to help the Timbers create numerical advantages in central areas while in possession. With wingers Yimmi Chará and Asprilla tasked with stretching Marathón’s defense, Mora had plenty of room to work with when he dropped back and combined with midfielders Diego Valeri or Eryk Williamson. While Mora seemed to tire near the end of 90 minutes, his ability to drop into midfield and also finish opportunities in attack will certainly prove useful for Portland this season.
Savarese said the team went into the game with the aforementioned goal of stretching Marathón out, especially between midfield and defense, to create more space in possession. He felt like the team did that, especially early.
“I think that the balance that we have with Diego Chará and Eryk [Williamson] in the middle was very, very good,” Savarese said. “The defense handled the long balls really well, and going forward we were patient enough to find the right moment to keep the ball or to get behind to create opportunities.”
Valeri thrived in the additional space created in midfield. The Timbers star scored the (own) goal of the game from a free-kick taken from yards behind the box and constantly popped up in vacant midfield spaces. The Argentinian played a large role in both finding and creating the “right attacking moments” that Savarese mentioned.
“He was phenomenal today,” Savarese said. “He was very active and found a lot of good spaces to give us the chance to be able to be vertical.”
While Portland looked effective in possession through large stretches of play, it wasn’t all perfect. The Timbers failed to capitalize on multiple golden opportunities. In the 57th minute, Yimmi Chará had a great opportunity on a corner kick that fell into his path in the box with nobody around him, but he didn’t put enough power on the ball and shot it straight at Torres.
Marathón’s deeper formation also enticed Portland to creep further up the field, which opened up new spaces for the very direct Central American side to attack through. That’s what happened in the 68th minute when midfielder Kervin Arriaga found plenty of room between the Timbers’ lines to drive into before delivering a well-weighted pass to forward Marlon Ramírez who leveled the score 2–2.
“Arriaga found moments to dribble and become a little more dangerous,” Savarese said. “Then they found some corners and more dangerous crosses.”
On Tuesday, Timbers fans got their first look at what Savarese wants his team to look like when forced to play with the ball. In just under a week, some will see it first hand when the team returns to Portland with a 2–2 result to defend and everything to play for.
“We’re not satisfied with this result,” Savarese said, “but scoring two goals away is very important.”
The Portland Timbers grabbed their fifth win in a row on Sunday night, taking down the San Jose Earthquakes 3-0 at Providence Park. Snapping the Quakes’ three-game winning streak was enough for the Timbers to maintain control of second place in the West and move even on points with the Seattle Sounders once again—after their Cascadian rivals stumbled against LAFC earlier in the night.
After an unexpectedly long break, the Portland Timbers were back in action on Wednesday night and were clearly determined to make up for lost time against the LA Galaxy. Despite a Galaxy side who were up for a fight, the Timbers went off, beating LA 6-3 on the road.
The Portland Timbers claimed their third win in a row on Sunday night, taking down the Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0 at Providence Park in what was nominally a road game. An early goal followed by 85 minutes of tension and missed Vancouver chances were evocative of the Timbers’ Wednesday win against the Seattle Sounders, despite 6 changes to Giovanni Savarese’s starting XI.
The Portland Timbers travelled north on Sunday night to take on the Seattle Sounders at CenturyLink Field, their first match played away from the confines of Providence Park since returning from the MLS is Back Tournament. Coming off a three-game winless streak, the Timbers needed a result to break out of their post-tournament funk and they got one, beating the Sounders 2-1 in a performance that looked like a return to the form that carried them through the knockout rounds in Orlando.
For the third match in a row, the Portland Timbers played in an empty Providence Park, and for the third match in a row the Timbers gave up at least three goals, losing 3-2 to the LA Galaxy.