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Soccer Timbers

Takeaways: Portland Timbers 4, Nashville SC 1

To round out their third game in eight days, the Portland Timbers faced off against Nashville SC Sunday at Providence Park. The match was one of the most complete performances Portland has put together all season, and they continue to rise in the table.

Unfortunately, both head coach Phil Neville and Evander were suspended for this match. Dave Van den Bergh and Eryk Williamson  took Neville’s and Evander’s places, respectively.

The city of Portland is in the midst of a heat wave. The kickoff for the game was 98 degrees. Luckily, there was absolutely no sun on the pitch.

Pantemis, Mosquera, Araujo, Zuparic, Bravo Chara (C), Ayala Moreno, Williamson, Rodríguez Mora Subs: Muse, McGraw, Mabiala, E. Miller, Paredes, Enriquez, Antony, Fogaça

In the early going, neither team could muster much going forward. They were feeling each other out and trying to find the game.

However, the flood gates opened right after that for the Timbers.

In the 18th minute, Jonathan Rodríguez stole the ball near midfield and proceeded to drive to the top of the box. He slipped a ball into Felipe Mora, who calmly finished for his tenth goal of the season.

In the 21st minute, the team executed a perfect counter. Juan David Mosquera initiated it with a dribble and a great ball out wide to Williamson. Williamson returned the ball to Mosquera, who “passed” it to a wide open Rodríguez for an easy finish.

Minutes later, the Portland Timbers won a spell of possession. Santiago Moreno served the ball from midfield out wide to Rodríguez, who calmly took a few dribbles and smashed it far post past Nashville’s Joe Willis.

In the 29th minute, Williamson made it 4-0 off a perfect, low-driven cross from Moreno. This marked his second goal of the season and first since the season opener.

After that, the cooling break took effect, and Nashville SC interim head coach Rumba Munthali had a chance to get after his team for their abysmal showing in the first half.

Unfortunately, that didn’t cool them off one bit and only made it worse. After a VAR check, in the 35th minute, Brian Anunga’s yellow card was upgraded to a red card after video showed Anunga’s  studs going into the back of David Ayala’s leg. The visitors were down four goals and had to play with 10 men for the rest of the game.

In stoppage time, Forster Ajago’s goal was called offside.

In the next Portland possession, Rodríguez was taken down in the box. The official called it right way, but reversed it after going back to VAR.

The first half demonstrated the prolific attack Portland possesses and how dangerous this team is when they are allowed to play on their own terms.

In the second half, the Timbers were on cruise control.

With Rodríguez on hat trick watch, the team did everything they could to feed him the ball.

In the 82nd minute, Nashville’s Sam Surridge found a tap-in goal after the Timbers could not stop their opponent’s initial through ball or the following low-driven cross. They gave up the clean sheet on a very well-worked goal. It was Portland’s only blemish on a beautiful evening of football.

Photo Taken By The Matthew Wolfe

“A bit of a hiccup, obviously, last Thursday, so we wanted to have a bounce back,” said Van den Bergh. “And I think this was a good game for that, so very happy with the three points. On the other side of things, a little disappointed we couldn’t keep a clean sheet that would have been really big for James [Pantemis], for our defenders, but at the end of the day, when you’re facing Nashville at home, and you tell me in advance that we’re going to win 4-1, I would have signed a dotted line. So, all in all, a good win. I would have liked to have scored a couple more goals in the second half, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. But all in all, was a good performance by our guys.”

Eryk

With Evander out, Van den Bergh opted for Williamson in that role.

In the first half, he tallied his second goal of the season.

Once Antony was subbed on in the second half, Williamson moved back to a double pivot with Diego Chará to help preserve the win.

However, after Moreno came off, Williamson moved back to the No. 10.

His versatility, dynamism, and creativity makes him extremely valuable to have on this team. Even though MVP candidate Evander and rising star David Ayala, are ahead of him on the team’s depth chart, there is still a role for Williamson.

“Eryk Williamson showed why he is a very, very good player for us and why we have him on the roster” said Van den Bergh. “I mean, he was outstanding tonight, not just his goal, but overall, I don’t think he lost three balls tonight […] He’s been good in practice, and he deserved his chance.”

History

For the first time since 2022, an MLS club has had three different players to score at least 10 goals or more: Rodríguez, Mora, and Evander.

The three designated players have been money all year and show no signs of slowing down.

“You can see we got along so well, and we try a lot to have fun while we’re playing” said Mora. “And I think we’re enjoying playing alongside each other.”

Image
Graphic via MLS Communications

“Extremely happy with the fact that we have three players on 10 goals,” said Van den Bergh. “I found out that it’s the first time in Timbers history, which is pretty wild. Very happy for those three. They’ve been putting in the work since the day I got here.”

Hat trick watch
Photo by Matthew Wolfe

Never in the history of the Portland Timbers has a player scored a hat trick. Rodríguez was the latest one burned by the team’s curse.

Rodríguez had a brace in a matter of minutes, and had the rest of the game to make club history. He drew a penalty late in first half stoppage time, but for some reason VAR overturned the call. Although the initial ruling was a tad soft, reversing the decision still doesn’t make much sense. After that, the team tried to find Rodríguez every time they got down in the attacking third, but it was not meant to be.

The wait continues…

Photo of the night
Diego Valeri with drums in Timbers Army. Photo by Matthew Wolfe.
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Soccer Timbers

Takeaways: Portland Timbers 0, St. Louis 0

After the 2-2 draw against Houston, the Timbers traveled to Citypark Stadium to play St. Louis. There, they got another draw, but this time it was scoreless.

Some changes in the lineup

Timbers head coach Phil Neville couldn’t have either Kamal Miller or Miguel Araujo on his gameday roster due to international duties. Therefore, Zac McGraw and Dario Župarić started at centerback.

“Knowing that Kamal and Miguel were leaving for their respective tournaments, I knew that it was time for me to step up and be the consistent defensive contributor that I was last year,” said McGraw after the game. “I know certain areas of the pitch and when I can step, because I know [Župarić]’s always going to be behind me and covering me. He does that very well. I know in certain situations, that’s how Dario plays, and with his experience, he’s going to be there at all times.”

Neville also praised the defense postgame: “Zac coming back in was outstanding, and [Župarić] has probably been our most consistent player since coming back in. He had to suffer. He has been out of the team… he had a little bit of a knock today. I thought he was colossus at the back.”

Another noticeable absence was Dairon Asprilla, who’s rumored to be linked to Colombian club Atlético Nacional and might have donned the Portland shirt for the last time against Houston.

If we speak about the attack, last week’s hero, Nathan Fogaça, got the start up top after scoring the equalizer against Houston instead of Felipe Mora, who’s going through a scoring drought.

Defensive mistakes

Although Neville praised his defense—and rightly so, as they collected their second clean sheet of the season—the Timbers made two terrible mistakes that could’ve cost them the game in the first half. It’s as if the team can’t shake them for some reason.

In the 12th minute, Evander made a sloppy pass and gave João Klauss the opportunity to score. For the Timbers’ fortune, the forward was offside, but that certainly was a warning sign.

Credit: MLS/ Apple TV
Credit: MLS/ Apple TV

Half an hour into the match, St. Louis was waiting for the space to open. David Ayala stepped forward to try to get the ball back, and Klauss’ movement opened up the space needed for him to be the receiving end of a through pass. Goalkeeper James Pantemis couldn’t stop him, but McGraw saved it before it was too late.

Credit: MLS / Apple TV
Credit: MLS / Apple TV

To be fair, it was a very smart movement by Klauss.

We have to give a special mention to Župarić, who more than once helped to clean up his teammates’ defensive mistakes.

Not much in the attacking department

The Timbers finished the first half with a very bland performance in the attack, having only shot four times and twice on target. The team started the match with a promising opportunity off the feet of Jonathan Rodríguez, but his shot got saved.

Credit: MLS/ Apple TV
Credit: MLS/ Apple TV

Watching the gif above, maybe Rodríguez should’ve gone for the pass instead of the shot—he had Santiago Moreno and Fogaça as passing options, and Antony was unmarked at the top of the six-yard box—but we can’t blame him for trying. Also, it is good that the Timbers arrived with numbers to the opponent’s box.

Which was totally different in this promising attack. Weirdly, no Timber outside the box made a run to join Fogaça and Rodríguez to get to the end of the cross shown in the video below.

Things like this might have been the reason behind why the Timbers finished with only two shots on frame, seven total.

Honorary mentions

David Ayala had another great game, contributing to recovering balls in important moments, as we can see below. One of the youngest players in the team is doing pretty well, and we could not be more happy for him after his injury.

It’s worth giving another special mention to Rodríguez, who led in the defensive duels department with nine wonsix aerialand only one lost.

Source: Opta
Source: Opta
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Soccer Timbers

Takeaways: Portland Timbers 1, Minnesota United 2

A new loss hit Portland. Although the Portland Timbers scored first, Minnesota United turned the tables in the second half.

It was encouraging to see the Timbers going into halftime winning. The feeling that they were going to concede just before the end of the first 45’ was looming in the air, but they held on.

Individual mistakes

For the umpteenth time, the team wasted clear opportunities to extend the lead. And again, they made individual defensive errors that cost them the match.

Granted, this was their third game in the span of one week, but after the win against San Jose, this was a major setback.

“We have been massively, massively let down by individual errors defensively,” said head coach Phil Neville after the game.

The Timbers’ defensive errors were noticeable even before they opened the counter. After beating Miguel Araujo with a nutmeg, the defense couldn’t stop a diagonal back pass from Joseph Rosales, and nobody was marking Teemu Pukki, who was standing inside the box. Hence, the shot (although it was off-frame).

Image: MLS / Apple TV
Image: MLS / Apple TV

To add more, the Timbers had to be grateful VAR didn’t grant a clear penalty against them after Kamal Miller fouled Bongokuhle Hlongwane.

Even though Minnesota was pushing the Timbers against their own goal and generating chances, the visitors scored first. Dario Župarić saw Felipe Mora and Jonathan Rodríguez among the host’s backline and tried to pass the ball to the gap Minnesota left in the middle (as you can appreciate in the capture below).

Image: MLS / Apple TV
Image: MLS / Apple TV

The pass was blocked, but David Ayala was around, and he rushed to recover that ball and finish the job. He got there before any ‘loon’ and sent a through pass to Rodríguez, who finished with a diagonal shot.

Three goals in two games? Not too shabby for the Uruguayan.

Image: MLS / Apple TV
Image: MLS / Apple TV

When half an hour passed, Portland was playing on their side of the field to defend the lead, and occasionally they’d send a long ball to one of their wingers to produce a counterattack. In the 39th minute, Cristhian Paredes did this. Juan David Mosquera ran toward goal, but goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair prevailed in that one-vs-one.

To his credit, St. Clair won all his one-vs-ones against the Timbers like a boss. It was an amazing thing to witness. And the only time he didn’t, the woodwork helped him.

Another one-vs-one happened at the beginning of the second half after a bad back pass that Rodríguez ended up controlling. He tried to chip the goalkeeper, who came out 40 yards away from his line, but St. Clair made an incredible save with his head.

The Timbers also suffered from bad luck. Mora could’ve doubled the lead, but the crossbar denied him. And even though he argued one of the defenders pushed him, VAR didn’t concede the penalty.

Parking the bus

“We scored the first goal, we then set off and didn’t play our football like we said,” Neville said. “We dropped off too deep, we stopped playing balls and started to play balls long, and we put ourselves in the pressure.”

The second half was mostly Portland’s 10 players defending the short lead. Only Rodríguez was near the midfield to be on the receiving end of long passes and then go in a one-vs-one with the goalkeeper. Sadly, that plan didn’t work much, and the Timbers didn’t have many chances in the second half.

As a result, Minnesota did what they couldn’t do in the first 45 minutes. Teemu Pukki got rid of Župarić and passed the ball to Joseph Rosales. David Ayala was marking Robin Lod but lost him, and Lod put the ball in the back of the net.

It was the nightfall for the Timbers. After that, they suffered a big scare when the referee awarded the host a penalty kick, but VAR overturned the decision.

Things didn’t improve for the visitors. Ten minutes later, Sang-bin scored the winning goal. In the image below we can see him unmarked at the top of the box. Araujo stayed close to him but as soon as he saw Taylor getting inside the box he forgot about Jeong Sang-bin. The South Korean held his run, so he was very much open to receiving that pass and finish.

Image: MLS / Apple TV
Image: MLS / Apple TV

The match was long, and with 10 minutes of stoppage time added, Portland had time to search for the equalizer. It looked as if they were going to make it—especially after Miguel Tapias was sent off for a dumb foul away from his box. The Timbers put the hosts against the wall, but in the end, they held and they had to go home without a point.

If we talk about the substitutions, they didn’t make much of a difference. Mora was clearly angry to be subbed off when the clock hit the hour mark, and his complaining pissed the referee off. As a punishment, the ref made the Timbers play with one man down for more than one minute by not letting Eric Miller come in for Mora.

The coach made more substitutions but no one was impactful enough. He then put in another attacking player—Antony—and things improved a little but not enough to find the equalizer.

Three-back

Neville decided to stick with a three-back formation just like he did in the match against San Jose. This time, he put Araujo in instead of Larrys Mabiala, and he moved Župarić from the right to the middle.

In defensive phase, Ayala and Mosquera dropped to help, although the entire team tried to show solidarity and help with defense. This is shown below, where we can see a line of six players defending.

Image: MLS / Apple TV
Image: MLS / Apple TV

Although Portland lost, the three-back formation worked well, and we can’t put the blame on that for the loss. If there’s something  Neville has shown, it is that he’s not afraid to try new things. It’s just like K. Miller said: “I think we’re just in a position where we’d like to try to find something that works.”

That’s what Neville has been doing, and not just with the defense. 

Three-back, four-back… at this point, it doesn’t matter. Neville hasn’t been able to find the key to fix the individual defensive mistakes, and he knows that’s on him. It’s a real puzzler and more so when we think about the regression some of Portland’s former starters suffered, such as Zac McGraw.

Another loss sucks but there are some positives about the next game against Sporting KC: It’s going to be played at home, the Timbers already played them and got a draw, and they’re one point away from being at the bottom of the table. It’s a pretty winnable match—or so it looks like. We’ll see.

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Soccer Timbers

Takeaways: Portland Timbers 2, LAFC 2

After a dramatic tie against Sporting KC, the Portland Timbers returned home to Providence Park—to earn another draw against Los Angeles FC.

“I thought it was a brilliant game of football,” said Timbers head coach Phil Neville. “We spoke three weeks ago about mentality, and I think we showed that mentality today. There’s a clear identity forming with our mentality, and I’m super proud with the way that they played.”

In one of the most aggressive moves of his tenure, Neville opted to play Jonathan Rodríguez on the left and Felipe Mora in the middle, starting the Timbers’ two best attackers in the same game for the first time. Their limited time together has been super effective—and one the head coach was forced to field due to Mora’s stellar play.

Neville also put Diego Chará and David Ayala in a double pivot for the first time. Ayala has been drawing rave reviews from Neville and the coaching staff. He has been influential in every game thus far.

Crepeau, Mosquera, Araujo, K. Miller, Bravo D. Chara ©, Ayala, Antony, Evander, Rodriguez Mora Subs: Pantemis, Mabiala, E. Miller, Moreno, Paredes, Williamson, Asprilla, Fogaça

In the 12th minute, Evander slipped in a beautiful ball to Mora, who somehow guided it home for the 1-0 lead. The home team’s sequence of play started with Juan David Mosquera winning a turnover and dribbling toward the right side of the box before laying the ball off to Evander.

Portland dominated the early proceedings. They didn’t allow LAFC’s first shot until the 21st minute (and by that time the Timbers already recorded four shots).

Unfortunately, all it takes is one bad moment. In the 22nd minute, the Timbers’ backline fell asleep, and Mateusz Bogusz made them pay dearly with a perfectly pinpointed far-post shot past Max Crépeau. Kamal Miller tried to close it down, but he had absolutely no help from Miguel Araujo, who was nowhere to be found in the sequence.

After being outshot four to zero in the following 10 or so minutes, Mosquera hit a nicely-weighted cross to Evande,r who smashed home a  gorgeous volley in the 34th minute. That goal came against the run of play.

Unfortunately, the second half could not have started in worse fashion for the home side.

In the 48th minute, Crépeau came off his line hard, but could not win the ball and was given a red card for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. This forced Portland to take off Mora and bring on James Pantemis.

Bogusz struck the ensuing free kick brilliantly to equalize for LAFC in the 52nd minute.

In the 66th minute, Evander struck a nice free kick at the top of the box, but it hit off the post. Even down a man, the Timbers continued to fight.

The teams traded shots back and forth the rest of the way, but neither was able to put together enough for a win. The game ended with a 2-2 draw.

Although they went down a man, the Portland Timbers worked their butts off to preserve the point.

No ZZs
Photo by Kris Lattimore.

Zac McGraw and Dario Župarić were both unavailable for the game, due to a concussion and personal reasons, respectively. That left Miller, Araujo, and Larrys Mabiala as Portland’s only options at centerback for the game.

Miller and Araujo ended up with the starts. Miller has been a starter all season, and Araujo made his second consecutive start.

The results were very mixed in their first start together. In this regard, Neville had no choice due to lack of options.

“It’s growing better and better,” said Miller. “Those goals […] could have been avoided, but all throughout the run of the 90 minutes, I feel like we’re defending strong. And to go man down with so long left in the game, against a team like LAFC that keeps possession of the ball so well. I felt like we defended well, and I believe we got a clean sheet with a man down.”

Their chemistry is building, but I do think McGraw should be starting all future games alongside Miller.

Jon and Pipe

The first start together for Rodríguez and Mora was not a surprise and was the right move by the head coach. Neville has spoken to the media about the sense that they paid to play Rodríguez as the No. 9. Mora’s stellar play as a reserve forced Neville’s hand, and rightfully so.

Although their connection is new, the duo are currently Portland’s best two goalscorers and finishers. They only got to play 48 minutes together, but the team looked extremely dangerous, with the attention both of them draw opening space for Evander, Mosquera, and Antony.

Moving forward, they are going to scoring tons and providing a ton of assists. This is just the start for the dynamic duo.

Another new pair
Photo by Kris Lattimore.

Neville and his staff have talked up Ayala big time since his return. He does all of the hard work necessary in the midfield and has an accurate left foot. His passing has surprised some, but it shouldn’t. Ayala can switch the point of attack, do the defensive work, and keep the attack moving.

His pairing with Chará is a bit special, as Ayala has been seen as a possible heir apparent.

This midfield looked sharp with those two rotating the defensive and attacking assignments. Their chemistry looked smooth and efficient. Although the Timbers have Eryk Williamson and Cristhian Parades, who are both extremely talented, Ayala offers the perfect balance. Depending on the matchup, Williamson should still get his fair share of starts, as should Parades.

Neville’s range of available options in the midfield is a blessing. For now, it seems like he has finally found the right mix (especially once Ayala returns to full fitness).

The Evander

“I think Evander is the best player in the conference at this moment in time. He’s playing incredibly well,” said Neville. “I don’t see a better No. 10 in either conference at this moment in time than Evander—that’s how highly I rate him.”

In the past three games, Evander has five goal contributions (three goals and two assists), including his golazo against LAFC.

He has quickly become one of the most dangerous players in all of MLS and is heating up at the perfect moment.

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Soccer Tennis

Takeaways: Portland Timbers 1, Philadelphia Union 3

The Portland Timbers match against the Philadelphia Union Saturday was headlined by the arrival of new Portland designated player Jonathan Rodríguez. Rodríguez’s signing was announced Wednesday of last week, and he was cleared to play the day before the game. Sadly, his first match was a mix of emotions, with Rodríguez opening up his scoring account, but his new team falling 1-3 at home.

Before we get into the game: If you are wondering if he prefers to go by his famous nickname, he does not. He prefers to be called, Jon or Jonathan.

The game, at a glance

 

 

 

Pantemis, Mosquera, McGraw, Zuparic, E. Miller Williamson, Chara ©, Moreno, Evander, Antony Rodriguez Subs: Sulte, Mabiala, Ayala, Paredes, Asprilla, Fogaça, Mora

After dominating the early proceedings of the half, the Timbers just could not find the back of the net. The woodwork denied them twice, and they created multiple scoring opportunities on top of that.

In the 28th minute, Philadelphia scored against the run of play on a header from Julián Carranza off a corner kick.

Both clubs traded haymakers back and forth for the rest of the half. Despite mostly dominating the first 45 minutes, the home side had nothing to show for it. Even worse, they were somehow down a goal.

In the 58th minute, the Timbers had another breakdown in communication, when a misplayed pass allowed the Union to counter. James Pantemis came up big, but the rebound landed right to Quinn Sullivan to make it 0-2.

Ten minutes later, Philadelphia would add another tally to make it 3-0. This time, it came from Carranza, making it a brace for the No. 9.

Portland wasn’t completely out of the game. In the 80th minute, Rodríguez headed home a cross from Santiago Moreno to make it 1-3.

Unfortunately it was too little, too late. One team did all the work needed to win, and the other played beautiful football.

“I’m probably as disappointed as I’ve been since I came to the football club,” said Timbers head coach Phil Neville. “If you don’t take your chances, you’re gonna have a hard time winning games of football.”

Mistakes and miscommunication
Photo by Kris Lattimore

For Portland, this game came down to mistakes. The worrying sign for the Timbers is that they’re conceding and losing games off miscommunication and set pieces. The team is not fully in sync defensively right now, and it’s heightened when they struggle to finish their chances in front of goal.

In the 28th minute, they conceded the opening goal off a corner kick.

In the 58th minute, Portland conceded off a rebound.

In the 67th minute, the Timbers allowed a goal when they were caught in transition off a quickly-taken free kick.

“I hope they’re disappointed. I hope they’re angry in the locker room,” said Neville. “If we don’t do the basics well, we’re not going to be where we want to be.”

The frustration has definitely kicked in for the team over the past few matches.

“As a group we’re incredibly disappointed,” said Eric Miller. “You can’t concede the types of goals that we’re conceding in this league and expect to win consistently.”

Although the Portland Timbers played some of their best attacking football, they did not take care of the basics.

“Who were the best footballers? I think we were by far,” Neville said. “But it’s not always about the technical abilities; it’s about the mentality to win games. It’s about doing the dirty jobs really well.

Jonathan

Negatives aside, Rodríguez did score in his Timbers debut. He was dangerous all match. It is very clear to see that he can work with a variety of different services, as he can score in any way.

“He scored a brilliant header. He hit the post with another shot,” said Phil Neville. “What I saw from Jonathan was that he makes some incredible runs. The more games he gets, the more standing he’ll get. He’s going to be a goal threat in every single game.”

Against Philadelphia, Rodríguez had only trained with the team for a week. He is going to gain more comfort and chemistry with the team from here on out.

Besides Rodríguez, Felipe Mora made his 2024 debut as a second half substitute. Having a healthy Mora and Rodríguez will be a huge boost in attack for the Timbers the rest of the way.

Numbers

Possession: Portland – 72.1%, Philadelphia – 27.9%

Expected Goals: Portland – 2.06, Philadelphia – 1.82

Shots: Portland – 18, Philadelphia – 15 (Rodríguez alone had five shots.)

Passes: Portland – 671, Philadelphia – 258

Evander led the teams in shots on target with three, chances created with five, completed passes in the final third with 24, and successful dribbles with four.