The Timbers traveled to Houston with the goal to do something different in this last part of the season and, hopefully, get some points.
Nonetheless, the game turned out to be a nightmare only 15 minutes into it.
The Portland Timbers went back to regular season action after playing in the Leagues Cup. Despite the results, the way they performed in the tournament gave fans hope again that they could have a better end of the season, and maybe push for a playoff spot.
Important absences contributed to the disaster
Without Diego Chará due to yellow card, suspension and without Zac McGraw due to an unspecified illness, Portland suffered defensively once again. Not only were they absent, but also Santiago Moreno and Marvin Loría. The defense looked sloppy, to say the least, and in some parts of the match, it looked nonexistent.
Only five minutes into the game, Claudio Bravo fouled Griffin Dorsey inside the box and Amine Bassi scored from the penalty spot.
After that, Houston kept sending through balls to their forwards that could’ve pretty much ended up in more goals. Not much time passed until the Dynamo scored its second of the night through Nelson Quiñones.
Houston’s third goal was unbelievable with Corey Baird going on a 1v1 with Ivačič after Adalberto Carrasquilla destabilized Portland’s defense with a backheel to Baird. Three goals in 14 minutes.
Things could’ve gotten so much worse at the 37th minute but the wood played for the Timbers when the ball hit the crossbar. But another goal was bound to happen and the Dynamo scored one more before halftime.
After the disaster that was the first half, Giovanni Savaresse changed almost 30% of the team at the start of the second half. One might say it worked because the Timbers stopped leaking so many goals but they didn’t improve enough to be near to scoring, let alone equalize this match.
Houston still had something left in the tank and after 60 minutes of soccer, they scored their fifth tally of the match through Brad Smith.
Portland couldn’t catch a break in the entire game. The injuries ghost that has haunted the Timbers during the entire season appeared again. Jeroslaw Niezgoda entered the game in the 69th minute but he wasn’t going to stay on the field long. Only six minutes later he had to leave on a stretcher. This meant that the visitors played with one man down for the remainder of the match.
Claudio Bravo, we need to talk mister
Not to point fingers and look for a scapegoat but the performance of some of the Timbers in this game was truly disappointing. How did Claudio Bravo, as a fullback, manage to have zero tackles, zero clearances, zero blocked shots and zero interceptions?
What is more, he looked as if he was bolted to the floor while Houston was attacking Aljaž Ivačič without merci. It is true that the entire backline did a lazy defending the entire night but Bravo’s attitude and the way he was – or wasn’t – doing his job are unacceptable.
No wonder why he was one of the four players the coach subbed off at halftime.
Bravo is just one example, but there are a lot of players that need to examine themselves and wonder if they’re giving their best to this team.
Who are the Timbers?
After this game it is fair to ask about the identity of this team. That question must be in every single fan’s mind, because Portland has shown multiple personalities this year.
Are they the fun team we saw in the Leagues Cup? Or are they the team that always can’t find the final pass? Are they the promising team that fights the entire match but ends up losing in the end? Or are they this pale version with no defensive skills whatsoever and no attack?
We don’t have the answer but one thing is sure: They’re not a reliable team and cannot score consistently even if their lives would depend on it.
“It was definitely a hard match. We need to be realistic: we played a horrible game tonight, and now we just need to look forward and focus on the next match,” said Cristhian Paredes after the game. He couldn’t have put it in better words.
The team had a lot of time to prepare for this match. This road game was supposed to be the Timbers’ final push to get into the playoffs. Fans were even a little hopeful after what they saw in the Leagues Cup, but the Timbers failed them again.
Now a playoff spot looks farther and farther away, and the end of their season looks nearer than before.