Not a bad performance for the Portland Timbers last night against the San Jose Earthquakes.
The Rose City team came up short of earning three valuable points came in the 78th minute when a controversial call as a supposed ball on the goal line was allowed thanks to a VAR review.
Still, I must state about this Timbers performance was an improvement thanks to the movements in the starting lineup by manager Giovanni Savarese, seen on target with Bill Tuiloma playing as a center back along with Marco Farfan and Pablo Bonilla flanking in the sides.
During the game, the defensive performance shown by the Green and Gold all game long showed promise and mitigated the Quakes’ dominance that they had during both halves.
Marco Farfan and Pablo Bonilla showed a lot of compromise and determination in the back and maybe they can both earn a starting role down the line.
Another key player was Steve Clark who rose to the occasion and to deny the Quakes a couple of would-be goals such as Oswaldo Alanis’s shot in the 29th minute and Chris Wondolowski’s in the 89th minute.
The Quakes dominated the stats in passing, shots on target, and possession, but Giovanni Savarese’s bold moves in his starting eleven made the difference in the end.
The Timbers put out a 4-3-3 formation and with three strikers in Yimmy Chara, Felipe Mora, and Jaroslaw Niezgoda, the need for more a creative game offensively lacked in the end. It would be Yimmy who scored with an assist from Diego Chara in the 33rd minute, but apart from that, it was all Quakes apart from the scoring.
Valeri Qazaishvili’s goal in the 78th minute would level matters, but that would be all they had to show for the match.
Iwill be imperative to see several corrections for these Timbers to gain some lost ground in the standings and if they would like to turn their season around in these next few games.
They need to be more dynamic add more creativity to their game and be more on target with their shots.
Somehow the absence of El Maestro Diego Valeri and Jeremy Ebobisse in the starting lineup were considerably huge as these two could turn the offensive game around and maybe come up with the win.
Do not get me wrong, a share of points is a step in the right direction.
Goals
Yimmi Chara 33’ PTFC, Valeri Qazaishvili 78’ SJE
Highlights
The Chara siblings delivered, with older brother Diego assist to Yimmi to score the game first goal
Diego Chara back in the lineup worked wonders assisting and defending
Thee back four of Dario Zuparic, Bill Tuiloma, Marcos Farfan, and Pablo Bonilla had a near perfect game
Steve Clark rising above with a game-changing save in the 29th minute and finishing with 5 overall saves
All around moves for Gio in his starting lineup paid off, with these players sending a strong message
Tomas Conechny and Marvin Loria inclusion proved valuable, unfortunately, lacked creativity
Jeremy Ebobisse needed to have more endeavor from midfield to convert the game-winner
Men of the Match
Yimmi Chara, Steve Clark, and Diego Chara
