Larrys Mabiala’s 2nd header attempt. Photo by Diego Diaz
The Portland Timbers hosted defending MLS Cup champions LAFC for a “must win” match as Portland tries to earn a spot in the playoffs. Sitting four points below the cutoff line at kick off, Portland is in the mindset that every match is a playoff match at this point. Both teams have players unavailable due to international duty or injury.
The Timbers have seven players off their roster including Dario Zuparic, who is out on yellow accumulation, and Juan Mosquera and Miguel Araujo, who were called up to their international teams. Defender Jaden Jones-Riley was called up from T2 in a short term loan agreement.
Captain Diego Chara. Photo by Diego Diaz
Portland took the field in a 3-3-4 formation with David Bingham in goal and Diego Chara with the captains band. The Timbers looked to be communicating well and in sync as the match got underway. A great series of one touch passes in the 11th minute led to Santiago Moreno finding Felipe Mora, whose shot went wide.
Two minutes later, Mora had the assist to Evander when he collected a pass and, reading the play perfectly, left the ball for Evander to strike. Evander’s shot sailed over the net.
The Timbers earned the first corner of the match in the 26th minute. Evander served a low ball to Santi, who passed it back to Evander, who placed the ball right in the center of goal. Mora’s header was deflected, earning the Timbers another corner kick.
Larrys Mabiala’s header put the Timbers up 1-0. Photo by Diego Diaz
Evander’s ball in on the second corner bounced in front of the goal after LAFC’s keeper, John McCarthy, tried to punch the ball and missed. Mabiala was there to get the header off the bounce and the Timbers scored first in the 28th minute. It was the first goal of the season for the 35-year old veteran defender.
LAFC had two near attempts in the 32nd and 34th minutes following the Timbers goal. Mateusz Bogusz was assisted by Diego Palacios but Christian Paredes was there to block Palacios first look then ran to block Bogusz view of the goal. Bogusz’s shot ended up wide to the right. Ilie Sánchez followed with a header off a corner kick that also went wide to the right.
Christian Paredes vs LAFC. Photo by Diego Diaz
Bogusz tried again in the 39th minute with the same results. Five minutes later Santiago Moreno took a one touch shot off a pass by Diego Chara from the top of the arch that was caught by LAFC’s McCarthy. That was the last play of the first half with no stoppage time added.
The Timbers took the pitch with the same poise and focus that they displayed during the first half. Just three minutes into the second half Mabiala almost had his second goal with a header off a corner kick that just missed to the left. Evander attempted a bicycle kick in the 50th minute from the center of the box that went to the right.
Evander’s bicycle kick vs LAFC. Photo by Diego Diaz
LAFC’s Bogusz had a header attempt in the 52nd but was surrounded by Portland defenders and his shot missed high. He was assisted by Carlos Vela with a cross. LAFC was stripped of the ball during their next possession by Claudio Bravo.
Bravo quickly passed to Evander, who sent a light one touch pass to Yimmi Chara. Chara bulldozed through defender Jesús Murillo to get a pass off to Santi, who sent a back heel pass to Bravo. He sent a left footed shot from the center of goal to the back of the net and the Timbers went up 2-0. Yimmi was right behind Bravo to catch the pass if necessary. It was a great display of tactical teamwork.
During the post match interview, Coach Joseph talked about the strategy for the second half, ”We even came in at half time and spoke a little bit about some adjustments and showed a little bit of video again and we came out and scored a goal in that exact way. It was pretty impressive and the guys are really latching on to some things. It’s exciting.”
Head referee Drew Fischer gave out the first yellow card of the night in the 57th minute to LAFC’s Kellyn Acosta for pulling Evander down after the play had passed. Acosta also had LA’s first real chance at goal three minutes later but was denied with a diving save by Bingham. Vela had an attempt in the 67th minute off a cross from Bogusz that missed to the right.
The first substitution of the match came in the 67th minute when the Timbers brought on Dairon Asprilla for Santi Moreno. In the 74th minute they substituted Franck Boli on for Felipe Mora and Sebastian Blanco for Yimmi Chara.
Mora and Yimmi Chara celebrate Bravo’s goal. Photo by Diego Diaz
When asked about bringing on strikers rather than defenders, Coach Joseph said, “We talked a lot about scenarios at the end of the game and one of them was ‘2-0 what do we have to lose? Let’s go for it. Let’s go for more goals. I think that’s important at this point. We need three points, we don’t need one, you know, so it was something that we talked about. We looked at each other on the bench and said ‘Let’s do it’. We tried to get the third goal and it almost come before we made the substitution. You’ve got to be brave and bold in times like this and that’s what we did.”
Losing no time, Blanco assisted Boli on a shot from the center of the box that was saved by McCarthy and resulted in a Timbers corner kick. Portland ended up with three corner kicks in quick succession following the blocked Boli shot. Zac McGraw’s header off a corner in the 77th minute was saved at the top of the box.
Zac McGraw vs LAFC. Photo by Diego Diaz
Paredes was shown a yellow card in the 82nd minute for challenging Carlos Vela just outside the box. Vela’s free kick managed to clear the wall but stayed too high and went over the goal as well.
LAFC made their first substitution in the 84th minute bringing on defender Érik Dueñas for midfielder Ilie Sánchez. Portland also made a substitution at the time taking off Paredes for Antony. Blanco then moved into the midfield with Antony playing on the left side.
Five minutes of stoppage time was added to the end of the match. Mateusz Bogusz had the final big play of the night in the 83rd minute when he took a shot from the right of goal that was just high over the crossbar. He was assisted by Vela.
The final whistle blew at 90+5 with the Timbers defense defeating the reigning champions 2-0 at home, making this the first time this season that the Timbers have won back-to-back home games.
Portland 2, LAFC 0.
Photo by Diego Diaz
