Rose City Review
The Portland Timbers season is over.
After 120 minutes and eight rounds of penalties, the Timbers finally succumbed to an FC Dallas side that were slow to start but finished strong in Sunday night’s MLS Cup Playoff match. It was only fitting in 2020 that, with victory in their grasp after a beautiful goal from Jorge Villafana, the Timbers conceded in the 93rd minute to a bouncing ball played over the top of their backline, ultimately losing 1-1 (7-8) after a tense penalty shootout.
The Portland Timbers snatched a point in the final minutes of Sunday afternoon’s match at Banc of California Stadium, drawing LAFC 1-1 in the final match of the 2020 regular season.
The Timbers’ point and results from around the rest of the league mean that they finish the year in third place in the Western Conference and will face off against FC Dallas in the opening round of the MLS Cup Playoffs.
LAFC started the match with a high, hard press that tripped up the Timbers from the opening whistle. Trying to work the ball out of the back, the Timbers were swarmed on the ball and any poorly controlled touch was pounced on by the hosts.
In just the fifth minute, LAFC were able to take advantage of a mistake from Eryk Williamson just outside the Timbers box. Receiving a pass from Larrys Mabiala and looking to turn out of pressure, Williamson was instead bodied off the ball by Diego Rossi and coughed it up to Latif Blessing in space. The little Ghanaian fired off a shot that Steve Clark parried away, but Carlos Vela was in the right place at the right time to slam home the rebound, giving LA a 1-0 lead.
The home side kept up the pressure, keeping the Timbers off balance and mostly unable to get down the pitch in a coherent fashion. What few attacking moves the Timbers were able to put together fell apart as anything less than a perfect pass was picked off by the LAFC defense.
After the half, the Timbers came out of the locker room looking more composed, but still unable to put together much in the attacking end. Although the Timbers were able to venture forward much more readily in the second half, they could not find an opening in the LA backline to put a shot on goal.
The Timbers finally managed a shot on goal in the 80th minute. A ball down the right played Yimmi Chara into space and the Colombian cut a square ball into the box for the run of Diego Valeri. As his path met Yimmi’s cross, Valeri struck the ball first time, sending a fizzing ball directly at Kenneth Vermeer that the LAFC keeper snagged and held.
The Timbers managed a second chance on goal in the 88th minute, when Dairon Asprilla brought down a ball wide on the left and sent a chipped ball into the LA box. The ball fell to the head of Felipe Mora who flicked it on to the back post where Yimmi was crashing toward the goal. Throwing himself toward the ball, Yimmi got a boot to it and put a low-angle shot on goal, but Vermeer made himself big and blocked the ball away.
With the chances coming their way now, the Timbers finally made one count in the 90th minute of the match. On a quick break down the pitch following an LA chance, Valeri hit a long, diagonal cross into the box. Valeri’s ball sailed over Mora and Asprilla in the box, dropping instead for Jorge Villafana, cutting in from the left wing. As the ball fell to him, Villafana put a head to it, sending a shot bouncing off the turf and into the back of the net to draw the sides even at the end of regulation.