A midweek game with few quality chances gave the Portland Timbers a point on the road, earning a scoreless draw against Real Salt Lake on Wednesday.
🎶 Let it rain, let it pour… 🎶#RCTID pic.twitter.com/D3YlJNh2fQ
— Portland Timbers (@TimbersFC) May 18, 2023
After an hour and a half-long weather delay the game finally started. Head coach Giovanni Savarese put on the the same starting XI that he used last Saturday in the game against Vancouver, with the goal of getting three points on the road.
Unchanged XI 👏
— Portland Timbers (@TimbersFC) May 18, 2023
▪️ Jazzy between the posts 🙌
▪️ D. Chara captains the side 💪
▪️ Loría sits on 99 appearances 👀#RCTID pic.twitter.com/89SNVi1Nml
Strong defense
We’re not gonna lie: the Timbers didn’t create as much as they should’ve in the final third in this match. Maybe it was due to the weather delay, or maybe because this is the second game they played in four days.
Whatever the cause, the home team was the one that dominated the match, but Portland defended well. They worked as a unit, blocking a total of six shots out of the 17 Real Salt Lake produced.
After the game, Savarese praised the work done by his defense, especially his fullbacks Juan David Mosquera and Claudio Bravo. “I think Mosquera and Bravo had a great game,” he said. “They gave us a lot of balance with two very difficult players that are very fast.”
RSL “had a fast team at the beginning,” Savarese said, “with [Anderson] Julio, [Maikel] Chang, and [Andrés] Gómez, with [Jefferson] Savarino inside—players that are very fast. We managed those moments that they tried to find in transition very, very well.”
Speaking of Mosquera, he was the player with the biggest percentage of passing accuracy on both sides of the field, with 90% overall and 85% in the opponent’s half. That means he only missed three passes out of a total 30.
Bravo was really good in this game, too. He was second in duels won with eight, created the most chances with two, made the most tackles with six, and was third in clearances with four.
Besides the fullbacks, the team could count on defender Zac McGraw, who was available again after missing a game due to yellow card accumulation. He was good as always, except maybe for his new look.
Jazzy with the big saves, again
Aljaz Ivačič finished the match with four saves and one catch. Maybe it was not the most saves he has made in a game, but those were crucial to collect his first clean sheet of the season and help Portland get a point on the road.
“Finally, no? Who would have said in Salt Lake?” said the goalkeeper when asked about his first clean sheet of the year. “I’m very happy about that, but as I said: we need to be more hungry. We could’ve won this game, so we need to work now and look forward to the next one.”
Ivačič might be right about the team not being hungry enough because the Timbers produced some worthy looks, although not many.
Not many quality chances
Portland looked a little out of ideas in the attack, maybe because they were burned out after playing on Saturday.
After two standout performances, Evander didn’t impact this game much. He didn’t create a single chance and was unsuccessful with all seven of the crosses he attempted. Nonetheless, he was the player who attempted the most shots with four, three of them on target.
Out of all the Timbers, it was Franck Boli who had the most promising chance of the entire match—an xG of 21.05% in minute 57’. Too bad RSL goalkeeper Zac MacMath made a great save, denying him what might’ve been the winning goal.
Other than Boli’s chance, the Timbers didn’t create much. Evander had a free kick on frame, but it was an easy catch for MacMath. And it was a true shame that Dairon Asprilla’s shot in the 75th minute hit the post; it was a nice low shot.
The Timbers finished this match with an xG of 0.45, while Salt Lake’s was 1.01. Given the better and more chances the home team had, we have to be grateful that they couldn’t put the ball in the back either.
What the coach said
As always, coach Savarese spoke to the media and shared his thoughts after the match.
“We created some very good moments that, if we maybe would’ve managed a little bit better, we could’ve gotten out from here with three points,” he said. “The point is a good point. It is always difficult to play at Salt Lake. And as I said to the guys, I thought we did a lot of good things in the way we managed the game and move the ball. With the possession probably at the beginning, we were strong in the first few minutes and then we started to play very, very well.”
Last but not least, we gotta give a special mention to Christhian Paredes. The midfielder put on a great performance, contributing everywhere.
He was first in duels won with 12, first in tackles with six, was tied with Bravo for second in recoveries with seven, made three clearances and one interception, and created one chance.
Here is an example of one of those seven recoveries he made. He was brilliant!
The Timbers will be back in Providence Park on Saturday, May 20th, when they play Minnesota. The kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. PT.