Rose City Review
The Portland Timbers went to California with the upper reaches of the Western Conference within striking distance, but left stuck in seventh place after another disappointing performance saw them stumble into a 1-1 draw against the San Jose Earthquakes. Despite going up a goal in the first half, by the end of the match, the Timbers looked lucky to be bringing anything home at all from their trip down south.
Despite starting Sunday night’s match on the front foot, the Portland Timbers were sent reeling by LAFC late in the first half and never recovered, losing 4-2 to the Californian side.
Playing on the conspicuously wet field at Banc of California Stadium, both sides seemed hesitant in the early going. While the Timbers weathered some early pressure from LAFC, they were soon able to settle into their familiar low defensive block, leaving the more adventurous play to the home side who had struggled to score in their previous two matches.
Chances were scarce for both sides until the Timbers opened the scoring in the 25th minute. After running on to a ball down the left flank, Diego Valeri cut a pass back to the top of the box where Felipe Mora was lurking. Rather than taking a shot into a pack of defenders, Mora spun and continued the progress of the ball across the field, rolling a pass into the path of Eryk Williamson on the left. With space in front of him, Williamson drove toward goal before juking an LA defender and slotting the ball past LAFC keeper Pablo Sisniega for the score.
The goal was enough to energize LAFC and the home side responded with a flurry of attacks that the Timbers struggled to contain. A series of balls into the Timbers box asked questions of Steve Clark and his backline, with the ball even winding up in the net once only to have Diego Rossi’s finish called back because he was in an offside position.
Finally, in the 37th minute, LA got their equalizer. A corner kick whipped in by Brian Rodriguez found the run of Bradley Wright-Phillips at the near post where the journeyman goalscorer flicked the ball on with his head. The helpful touch perfectly evaded the Timbers defense and fell at the back post just as Mark-Anthony Kaye arrived for a straight-forward touch over the line.
The hosts’ second goal of the night came from the run of play but was no less well worked than their first. Breaking down the pitch and into the Timbers’ end in the 41st minute, Brian Rodriguez played a diagonal ball from the center of the pitch to Rossi making a darting run inside from the Timbers’ right. Timing his run perfectly, Rossi received the ball in behind the defense and, as Clark rushed out to close him down, hit a curling shot past the keeper for a simple, smooth finish.
With the Timbers still reeling and unable to recover, LAFC kept the pressure on and, in the first minute of first-half stoppage time, the hosts scored their third. After a dangerously placed free-kick was knocked down in the Timbers box, Rodriguez got on the ball and played a square pass across the face of goal to Wright-Phillips. Unmarked, Wright-Phillips had no trouble putting a boot to the ball and knocking it over the line to take a 3-1 lead.
In the final minute of first-half stoppage time, however, the Timbers snatched the momentum back. Pushing quickly down the pitch, Jorge Villafana hit an early diagonal ball into the LA box that dropped into the path of Jeremy Ebobisse. Rising up to the ball, Ebobisse nodded it forward; dropping the ball over Signiega, under the bar, and over the goal line to pull the Timbers back within one.
The Timbers came close to pulling even in the 62nd minute after Diego Valeri was tripped up at the top of the LA box. After earning the foul, Valeri stepped up to the free-kick and hit a cutting ball through a gap in the wall onto to see it sting off the woodwork and fly away from goal.
The remainder of the second half was less promising as the Timbers struggled to get the ball into the attacking end with any sense of purpose. Despite flashes of skill from the attacking group, the Timbers could not find an equalizer in the final half-hour of the match.
Adding one final insult, LAFC grabbed an insurance goal in the 95th minute when Kaye played substitute Danny Muovski in on goal for a one on one finish around Clark that sealed the deal for LA and sent the Timbers home without a single point.
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.
On a scary and chaotic Saturday night in Portland, with far-right demonstrators terrorizing the city, the Portland Timbers played a soccer game.
Someone was shot to death in downtown Portland while the game was being played.
It was horrifying and absolutely everyone saw it coming.
I still wrote about what happened in the game, because I didn’t know what else to do. You can find that below.
It was an exciting, disappointing game that ended 4–4 among feelings of worry and numbness at the violence being carried out on the streets of Portland.
From the opening whistle, the Timbers pressed RSL high up the pitch. Nipping at the heels of Real, the Timbers saw immediate results, turning over RSL multiple times in the attacking end in the first five minutes of the match.
That high pressure paid off in the seventh minute when the Timbers opened the scoring after a turnover in the RSL box. As the visitors tried to play the ball short off a goal kick, the Timbers swarmed them. After three short passes between keeper Andrew Putna and his defenders failed to get the ball clear, it was Diego Chara who snuck past midfielder Pablo Ruiz and was clear in on goal. Putna charged forward, but Chara took a quick touch around him and calmly rolled the ball into the now-open net.
The goal served as a clear wake-up call for the visitor as RSL worked the ball forward into the Timbers’ end and refused to leave, sending ball after ball into the Timbers box and foiling their attempts to break out.
A handful of chances later RSL found their equalizer. Off a free kick in the attacking end, RSL sent a ball into the Timbers box that found Nedum Onuoha at the back post. The Real center back sent a headed ball back across the face of goal where it was knocked down in front of winger Corey Baird. With the Timbers defense still scrambling, Baird only had to slot it home from close range to even up the score at 1–1 in the 19th minute.
The Timbers answered immediately. Just two minutes later, the Timbers took the ball down the pitch and won a corner kick. Diego Valeri served a curling ball into the box off the restart, finding the head of Jaroslaw Niezgoda as he separated from his marker and made solid contact. Niezgoda’s header flew toward goal and skipped off the head of RSL midfielder Maikel Chang, taking it over the diving form of Putna and into the goal to restore the Timbers lead.
With the Timbers back in front, the game settled into a more familiar pattern: the Timbers sat back, presenting a strong defensive block, and dared RSL to come at them. RSL obliged, but were unable to assert themselves in the same way as they did after the first Timbers goal, leaving openings for the Timbers to break out and counter.
Shortly after the half, RSL equalized again. Off a corner kick in the 48th minute, Chang flicked the ball on, sending it arching up into the air and dropping at the back post where Damir Kreilach was alone in space. As the ball fell in front of him, Kreilach took its measure and struck it on the volley, giving Steve Clark no chance at the save as he finished from close range.
After a back and forth battle through most of the second half, Sebastian Blanco stepped up with a moment of magic to retake the lead. In the 70th minute, Chara won the ball in the Timbers half then immediately looked upfield and picked out Blanco on the right with a pass into space. Carrying the ball forward, Blanco drove toward the RSL box, cut toward the center of the pitch, and hit a curling shot on goal. Despite a heroic dive from Putna, Blanco’s ball was placed perfectly and nestled into the back of the net, giving the Timbers a 3–2 lead.
In the 85th minute, the Timbers got their insurance goal. Moments after a shot from Onuoha pinged off the Timbers’ post and was snatched off the goal line by Clark, the Timbers broke down the pitch. A throw from Clark found Blanco with enough space to look up and pick out a bursting run from Felipe Mora through the center of the pitch and into the attacking end. As Mora continued his run, Blanco hit a perfectly placed pass forward that skipped just out of reach of a defender and found its intended recipient. Mora collected the ball on the run, hesitated inside the box, and coolly finished past Putna.
The insurance goal, it turned out, was not enough to secure all three points for the Timbers as RSL stormed forward and the Timbers wilted under pressure.
First, in the 90th minute, the visitors found Gioseppi Rossie in the box with his back to goal. The RSL sub took a smooth touch to settle the ball, turned, and—the Timbers defense scrambling to recover—slotted a close-in shot past Clark.
Then, in the fifth minute of stoppage time, Baird took off on a juking run through the Timbers defense, dribbling around a pair of defenders before touching a short pass forward to the feet of Sam Johnson. Once again the RSL player was able to turn and shoot from point-blank range and once again Clark had no chance at the save as RSL pulled even in the final seconds of the match.
After more than a month away from home the Portland Timbers have emerged from the MLS is Back Tournament undefeated, taking down Orlando City SC 2-1 in the tournament final and booking their spot in the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League.
The Portland Timbers are going to the MLS is Back Tournament Final after taking down the Philadelphia Union 2-1 in a battle of the set-pieces.
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