On a rainy day at Provdence Park the Portland Timbers took on Real Salt Lake for the Western Conference Championship. The match got underway with a fifth minute Timbers goal by Felipe Mora. Real Salt Lake tried for an equalizer in the ninth minute with a shot on goal that was saved by Steve Clark. In the 17th minute, Portland’s Laryys Mabiala attempted a header off a corner with no results. Yimmi Chara had a straight line shot on goal in the 24th minute saved by David Ochoa. Santiago Moreno took a shot on goal after an attempt by Lorea was deflected. The shot was high in a near miss.
The Timbers took advantage of the early lead energy and maintained control of the match leading with possesions and shots on goal. Damir Kreilach of RSL attempted a header with a save by Clark in the 32nd min. RSL followed with an offside attempt that was punched away by Clark in the 36th minute. The Timbers finished the first half up 1-0 after one minute of stoppage time.
Ten minutes into the second half, Real Salt Lake had their first corner of the night with no results. Things got chippy in the 55th minute with an RSL foul on Mora followed by a yellow card on Aaron Herrera of RSL after a tough tackle. The Timbers brought on Niezgoda for Mora early in the second half. Moreno earned his first goal as a Timber in the 60th minute with a shot that reflected off the far post, bounced off Ochoa’s back, and found it’s home in the back of the net.
In the 78th minute, Herrera earned a second yellow from referee Alan Kelly that resulted in a red card and ejection from the pitch. The Timbers’ Army erupted with applause as Coach Gio Savarese made another substitution in the 78th minute bringing in Diego Valeri for Marvin Loria. The Timbers continued to press as RSL played a man down in the remaining final minutes. One last corner kick attempt by Valeri was the final play as the whistle blew at Providence Park.
The Timbers won 2-0 and were crowned Western Conference Champions. When asked about the experience tonight Coach Gio said, “I think the most important thing is that the players understood the moment and we knew were playing against a difficult team and I thought we put in a very strong performance tonight. It was a special night because being able to play this game in front of our fans in our stadium with the energy that we saw today, with the passion that the fans brought tonight, it was a phenominal night.”
Tomorrow, the Philadelphia Union take on NYCFC in the Eastern Conference Final. The Portland Timbers will host the winners of tomorrow’s match next Saturday, December 11th in the MLS Cup Final at Providence Park.
