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.
Against the infinitely dissected man-on-man tactics of the San Jose Earthquakes, the Timbers elected to surrender the ball and play for the break from the start of the match. Bunkering down deep in their own end, Portland welcomed the Quakes’ possession rather than trying to deal with the smothering press of which the home side is capable.
Of course, just because the Timbers intended to avoid the pitfalls of the San Jose press does not mean that they were successful. Every misplaced pass and every sloppy touch from the Timbers—of which there were plenty, thanks to the haggard state of the pitch at Earthquakes Stadium—was punished by the Earthquakes, with San Jose finding the first real chances of the game halfway through the first half.
In the 26th minute, San Jose came close when Vako got on the ball in space at the top of the Timbers’ box. The Earthquakes designated player let rip with a strong shot that knuckled toward goal, but ultimately flew wide around the far post.
The Quakes came even closer in the 29th minute after Diego Chará gave up a free-kick just outside the Timbers’ box. Off the restart, Oswaldo Alanís smacked a swerving free-kick direct on goal that Steve Clark could only knock down to the pitch. As the ball bounced in front of goal, Florian Jungwirth got a boot to it—only for Clark to throw himself up off the ground and put his shoulder in front of the shot, saving a sure goal and keeping the score stuck at 0-0.
It was the Timbers who would score first, taking the 1-0 lead in the 33rd minute, thanks to a beautiful turn of play from the brothers Chará. After the Timbers turned over the Earthquakes in the center of the pitch, D. Chará collected the ball and turned upfield, picking out his younger brother, Yimmi Chará, one on one with a defender in the opposing half and finding him with a perfectly placed, outside of the boot pass.
After receiving the ball, Yimmi, turned on his man and took off toward goal. Carrying the ball into the San Jose box, Yimmi waited until Quakes keeper James Marcinkowski rushed off his line before playing a chipped shot over his shoulder and past the goal line to put the Timbers ahead.
San Jose almost pulled a goal back in the 38th minute when the Quakes caught the Timbers upfield and managed to break out on the counter. Again it was Vako with the chance as the tricky No. 10 got the ball just inside the Timbers box and hit a curling shot on goal that dipped over Clark but clanged off the post. Moments later, the Quakes found Vako in front of goal, but his second attempt was put wide.
The Timbers had a gilded chance to extend their lead in the 55th minute when D. Chará played a ball into space for Pablo Bonilla to break out after a San Jose corner. Bonilla carried the ball forward, but ran out of steam just outside the San Jose box. Still, after a series of mislaid passes, the Timbers were still able to get off a shot when a deflected ball fell to Jarosław Niezgoda inside the box. Niezgoda got a shot off, but could not put the power on the ball to challenge Marcinkowski, who got down to make the simple save.
After a long stretch of stalemated play, the Earthquakes were able to grab hold of the game and score an equalizer in the 76th minute. Getting forward, the Quakes found Vako in space on the Timbers right flank with a headed pass. Despite a deflection, Vako controlled the ball, dribbled past a defender, and slid a shot toward goal. It looked for a moment like Bill Tuiloma had managed to save the shot off the line, but a quick VAR check awarded the goal and pulled the Quakes even at 1-1.
In the 88th minute, San Jose found Chris Wondolowski lurking in the Timbers box. The MLS all-time leading scorer was able to put a headed ball on goal, but Clark made the diving save and pushed the ball wide to safety, snuffing out the last chance for a winner in the match.