Tag: Pablo Bonilla

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Soccer Timbers

Takeaways: Portland 0, LA Galaxy 0

Photo by Kris Lattiore.

The Portland Timbers had lost three games in a row heading into their home game Saturday versus the LA Galaxy. The Galaxy came into the match winless in their opening three games, with their last two ending in draws. Both teams desperately needed a result coming into the game.

Both teams would play to a scoreless draw at Providence Park.

In order to inject some life into the club, Timbers head coach Gio Savarese inserted Diego “Guti” Gutierrez and Pablo Bonilla into the lineup. Nathan Fogaça earned his second consecutive start.

The Portland Timbers and LA Galaxy had an injury list that looked like an NFL midseason injury update.

LA had their fair share of issues too. They were missing seven players: Chicharito, Douglas Costa, Jonathan Bond, Marcus Ferkranus, Dejan Joveljić, Kelvin Leerdam, and Eriq Zavaleta.

The Timbers went extremely direct with their play in the first half, and all of the statistics backed it up. It was an ugly display of football and highlighted how sloppy they were with the ball.

Both teams were extremely physical, and there were a ton of fouls committed and not called in the opening 45 minutes. Guti and David Bingham were the two bright spots for the Timbers.

In the first half, the Galaxy dominated proceedings with 10 shots on goal, while Portland had one. The Timbers were out-possessed 29% to 71%. In the 13th minute, Portland got lucky when Galaxy forward Preston Judd’s shot hit the post after he got past the backline of Portland.

In the second half, play continued to be chippy. For 80 minutes, the Timbers were outplayed by the Galaxy.

In the last 15, though, Portland found some magic and dangerous moments. Tega Ikoba brought a spark to the game when he subbed in for the Timbers in the 76th minute. Portland outshot LA Galaxy 9-7 in the second half.

The final possession numbers were terrible for the Timbers: Portland with 32.8% and LA with 67.2%.

Identity crisis

I will ask continue to ask until we get an answer: who is this Portland Timbers team? What are they trying to accomplish on the pitch? Where is the creativity? Is the counterattack completely gone?

The performance early on was sloppy, and they couldn’t manage to escape a single line of pressure. In the second half, the Timbers were a lot better and finally showed the trademark counterattack in the last few minutes.

With the team finally getting healthy, we could see improvement coming sooner rather than later.

“I thought it was a performance of a team that wanted to get a win three points,” Savarese said. “When we have players missing, then players have to step up, and I saw a lot of players stepping up today. It wasn’t perfect, but when you have the desire, the heart, the commitment and determination to give everything that you have, what else can I ask?”

Jazzy benched

Through the first five games of 2023, goalkeeper Aljaž Ivačič has made one start, while Bingham has made four.

Although Bingham has been good in goal, he does not possess the immense upside that Jazzy does.

However, Bingham is as reliable as they come. Savarese knows exactly what he can expect from Bingham each time he’s in goal.

He made huge saves throughout the match to keep the game scoreless. His positioning was very good and played a fine game in goal.

This was his second clean sheet on the season, but unfortunately the turf monster claimed its next injury in Bingham.

We wish him all the best in his recovery.

The tension between Ivačič and Savarese could land him on the bench for the near future. Not a good look for a struggling Timbers side.

Could we see 20-year-old Hunter Sulte start, instead? It looks like it.

Guti & Bonilla start
Diego Gutierrez made his first start against LA Galaxy. Photo by Kris Lattimore
Diego Gutierrez made his first start against LA Galaxy.
Photo by Kris Lattimore

Guti has been strong for the Timbers in the minutes he has received. Those opportunities earned Gutierrez his first start. Juan David Mosquera, who is on international duty with Colombia, was replaced by Pablo Bonilla.

Gutierrez and Bonilla were both active and energetic throughout the game. Bonilla did not have many opportunities to come forward, but he was efficient in defense. He also led the team in crosses. Guti had many bright moments with his dribbling and passing.

After the match, Gio said Guti could see more minutes moving forward if he continues his current form. “Gutierrez played very well,” he said. “Now he’s going to compete and push others, and that’s what we want.”

Injury list

At this rate, the Portland Timbers could field a whole injured side. That’s how long their list is. Players continue to get healthier each week, but so far, when they get players back, more go on it.

“Right now, we’re unlucky with the injuries,” Diego Chará said after the match. “That’s really disappointing for us.”

Still, the Timbers have no choice but to continue on.

Standouts
  • The Post: Soccer is a brutal game, especially when it comes to the score. You could dominate a match and still not get the desired outcome. The Galaxy hit the post twice, and that was the difference in the game.
  • Diego Gutierrez offers something very different as a winger and it will help the Timbers this season. Guti has the ability to dribble and keep possession or take players on. He keeps putting up good performances and should have a role on the team moving forward. He led the team with six dribbles and three successful dribbles on Saturday. He also was near the top for completed passes, crosses attempted, recoveries, and touches.
  • David Bingham got the nod over Ivačič, and it paid off. Bingham was clutch throughout the game, and his positioning was solid throughout. He came up with four saves, all in crucial moments. His injury at the end was the worst news you could get at the end of the game. He has two clean sheets in four starts this year.
  • Tega Ikoba continues to bring the energy and excitement. In his 14 minutes, the Timbers were the better team in the game. Savarese said he will see more minutes in upcoming games.
Tega Ikoba rises over everyone to win a header. Photo by Kris Lattimore
Tega Ikoba rises over everyone to win a header. Photo by Kris Lattimore
Stock down
  • Injuries: Another game, and two more injuries.
  • Officiating: This got out of hand and overly-physical. Referee Chris Penso needed to set the tone earlier and refused to do so. It was very fortunate to not see more players injured. The only consistency was that he was bad for both sides. The game ended with 29 total fouls.

Key stats: Team leaders
  • Claudio Bravo paced the team with 13 possessions won and 64 touches.
  • Zac McGraw led the team with four tackles and three blocks
  • Diego Chará conducted the show with the team’s strongest performance in passing accuracy in the final third.
  • Santiago Moreno was Portland’s most active player in the attack, with 17 passes in the final third.
Quote of the Night

Perhaps the game was best summed up by Savarese: “We are in a good place in our mind and our hearts, and now we have to get more players in.”

Categories
Soccer Timbers

Timbers Win Third Game in Four Months, Third Game in a Row

Courtesy of MLS

In a battle between two teams looking to outlast their opponent, wear them down, and catch them off balance, the Portland Timbers were the team still standing after 90 grueling minutes against the Houston Dynamo on Saturday night. In their second game of the MLS is Back Tournament group stage, the Timbers looked in control for most of the match as they fought their way to a 2-1 victory.

Although the Dynamo went down a man in the final minutes of the match after Alberth Elis picked up his second yellow card of the night, it was the Timbers’ ability to take their chances that played a deciding role in the match. Inch-perfect finishes from Jeremy Ebobisse in the 35th minute and Diego Valeri in the 61st minute put the Timbers up 2-0, giving the side the breathing room needed to see out the match.

Before his sending off, Elis did manage to pull one back for the Dynamo, earning a penalty kick in the 86th minute after putting a header off the hand of Jorge Villafana — who had an otherwise excellent game — and then stepping up to convert the spot-kick past Steve Clark to pull the Dynamo back within one with minutes left in the match.

In the heat and humidity of the Orlando summer, a major factor in the match against the Dynamo seemed to be the fresh legs of the Timbers’ substitutes.

Giovanni Savarese went to his bench early on Saturday, bringing on Andy Polo for Yimmi Chara in the 60th minute. He then made two more subs in the 69th minute, bringing on Marvin Loria and Jaroslaw Niezgoda for Eryk Williamson and Jeremy Ebobisse. Finally, Savarese capped off the night by bringing on Chris Duvall for Pablo Bonilla in the 82nd minute after the youngster absorbed his third hard foul of the night.

The Dynamo, on the other hand, made one sub in the 62nd minute, one in the 87th, and two in the 88th.

As a result of Savarese’s aggressive use of subs, the Timbers looked markedly fresher than their opponents during the second half even after having played with a man down for a big chunk of last Friday’s win over the LA Galaxy. With the Dynamo flagging, the Timbers subs were able to make a real impact on the match, quickly breaking up Dynamo attempts to get forward and winning the fifty-fifty balls that might otherwise have given Houston a chance to get back in the game.

Despite being subbed off late in the match, Saturday was a successful first-team debut for Bonilla who got the start over Chris Duvall at right-back, being granted the privilege of matching up against the Dynamo’s vaunted attacking trio: Alberth Elis, Darwin Quintero, and Mauro Manotas. Bonilla, a Venezuelan youth international signed from T2 exactly one month ago, was introduced to the MLS life by the Dynamo when in just the 7th minute he took a cleat to the thigh from Houston midfielder Maynor Figueroa.

Despite the rough treatment by the opposition, Bonilla acquitted himself well in the first half, providing solid coverage down the right flank and acting as an outlet for Yimmi Chara on his regular runs forward. In the second half the youngster continued his strong outing, getting further forward down the pitch as well as providing several clutch tackles when the Dynamo got forward on the Timbers’ right.

Most interesting was Bonilla’s play with Marvin Loria after the Costa Rican 23-year-old came on as a substitute early in the second half. After spending the pre-suspension preseason together with T2, Bonilla and Loria had clear chemistry playing together on the wing and combined for a strong chance on goal that Loria ultimately had blocked by a defender as he got his shot away.

The win against the Dynamo guarantees that the Timbers will reach the knockout rounds of the MLSIBT and leaves the Timbers with a final group match against LAFC next Thursday that will at most affect the Timbers’ seed coming out of the group stage.

How the Timbers treat this match will tell us much about how they view this tournament and how they view the possibility of playing out the remainder of the season. These group stage games count as part of the 2020 MLS regular season, so it will be interesting to see if the Timbers view this last group stage match as a chance to get minutes to players that have mostly served as subs like Niezgoda or Andy Polo, to bring in some youngsters like Blake Bodily or Marco Farfan who have yet to see the pitch, or just another game to run out the regular starting XI, tournament be damned.