Cristhian Paredes and Jaroslaw Niezgoda’s first-half goals were enough for the Portland Timbers to deliver a 3-0 win over newcomer Austin FC at Providence Park to close the 2021 season.
For the Portland Timbers, Decision Day wasn’t a critical one after all they were already seeded fourth in the Western Conference, so a win or loss wouldn’t affect the Rose City side.
Still, in today’s game, this had a lot of implications versus newcomer Austin FC, losing a couple of games away against them over at the Q2 Stadium in Austin.
At the end of the match, the Timbers knew who they were going to play after Minnesota’s 3-3 draw against LA Galaxy put them number 5 seed thus eliminating LA Galaxy from the postseason.
For Austin, the turnovers became lethal for today’s loss and for a team not playing well on the road in their inaugural season.
The Timbers took advantage of that immediately when Santiago Moreno passed to an open Sebastian Blanco, who set the ball for Cristhian Paredes’s first score in the 17th minute.
Statistically, the possession went in favor of the visitors with a whopping 61.1% over the Timbers’ 38.8%, but what counted the number of shots favoring the home team as the Timbers had 23 shots at goal over Austin’s 6 and 10 direct versus 4 of the Texans.
What stood up for the Timbers was its intelligent game and taking advantage of the turnovers the Verdes had all game long and displaying consistency in both its offensive and defensive games.
The game’s second goal came almost the end of the first half near the 45t minutes when Yimmi Chara put on the pressure on Austin defender Kolmanic and surrendered the ball. Chara found Niezgoda open for him to chess in the ball in for the game’s second goal and Timbers going into halftime with the lead.
In the second half, once again the combination of Blanco and Niezgoda delivered mayhem to the visiting Texans when Blanco counterattack delivered the third goal of the match. Starting a run and passing to Niezgoda and clipping the ball for Blanco scoring in the 53rd minute to seal a win.
The Portland Timbers’ consistency and playing solid ball has led them to a positive finish in this season that at times looked anguished and in the end, the tables were turned in their favor.
Despite Minnesota having the upper edge lately over the Portland side, in the end, perfection is not forever and these Timbers can break the spell and streak the Loons have over them, and the next thing is the postseason.
Goals
Cristhian Paredes 17’ PTFC, Jaroslaw Niezgoda 45’ PTFC, Sebastian Blanco 53’ PTFC
Man of the Match
Cristhian Paredes, Jaroslaw Niezgoda, Sebastian Blanco, Santiago Moreno
Portland Timbers
Austin FC
