by Matt Hoffman
In the 85th minute, the San Jose Earthquakes were awarded a free kick which goalkeeper Brian Meredith jettisoned into the east stands. Thirty minutes later, Gaston Fernandez’s theatrics of having scored the game-winning goal were abruptly halted as he was deemed to have been offside.
It all seemed lost when Jack Jewsbury’s inside flick found the back of the net securing three necessary points on hot Sunday evening match.
July 3rd, 2015: Portland fans relate current events to the game, in this case the recent lift on the marihuana ban.
It wasn’t pretty. What should have been an easy win for the Timbers was a cacophony of questionable calls, bloodletting, and potty words all in front of a national audience following one of the most triumphant moments in American soccer history.
It was never going to be an easy match for the Earthquakes, yet the Timbers were not able to capitalize against a club who struggled to string together any number of consecutive passes on the Timbers side of the lawn.
Once again, the Timbers had the opportunity to host a team without its three Designated Players. Innocent Emeghara is out injured, Chris Wondolowski is away the USMNT, and Mathias Perez Garcia was a late scratch.
Add to list of departures, of Sanna Nyasi (suspension) and Cordell Cato (international duties), it had all the makings of a rout similar to last week’s 4-1 win over a dilapidated Seattle side.
Despite the rugged terrain in front of them, the game started very differently from the US Women’s game earlier where the Yanks had a two goal lead nary five minutes into the match.
In the fifth minute, Timbers defender Liam Ridgewell suffered a head injury colliding with forward Mark Sherrod. Portland played a man down while it was tended to. Sherrod would double his pleasure in the 75th minute earning a yellow card as his elbow drew blood from Norberto Papparatto.
That would be symptomatic of the match: it was a slugfest in which the Timbers had the better chances, better possession, and all around better game in the first half. Yet, had nothing to show for it.
A 40th minute goal by Diego Valeri was ruled out controversially. Two balls appeared to be handled by San Jose (one in the box) and finally the Timbers Army had had enough that in the 45th minute the Army unleashed a plethora of unmentionables that justified ESPN’s policy of a six-second delay between the tv feed and what actually transpired on the field.
The refereeing crew regained control of the match in the second half when Clarence Goodson was shown the first yellow card of the game. Though the scoring didn’t pick up, the lawlessness that colored the end of the first half dissipated.
But in the end, the Timbers were able to prevail and a win, however ugly it may have been, is still a win.
