PORTLAND, OR–The Portland Thorns returned to the top of the NWSL over nine-woman Chicago Red Stars, 3-0, before 19,127 at Providence Park. It was a goalless first half that saw the Red Stars with the better chances before the Thorns came back and had the momentum towards halftime.
The Thorns would take the lead just three minutes into the second half after Morgan Weaver collected a ball from Sam Coffee and beat Alyssa Naeher far post. Things took a turn for the very worst for the Red Stars in the 58th minute mark after Bianca St. Georges was given a straight red for an obscene gesture towards the fourth official. That reduced the Red Stars to ten and three minutes later, the Red Stars were down two after Sophia Smith drew Naeher away from goal and sent a ball to Weaver for an easy finish and second goal of the match.
The downward spiral continued for the Red Stars right until the end as Zoe Morse would pick up a second yellow in the first minute of stoppage time which reduced the Red Stars to nine and further stretched the them thin defensively. The humiliation was complete shortly thereafter after Taylor Porter scored from outside the area to make it 3-0.
The Red Stars finish the match in seventh and could go down one spot further pending Angel City’s result against Racing Louisville later on Sunday. Elimination from playoff contention will come before their Sunday match against Angel City at Bridgeview (5pm CT, Paramount+) if North Carolina wins at San Diego on Friday (9pm Paramount+) and then Houston gains at least a point in Washington on Saturday (6pm CT, Paramount+). Should the Courage not win their regular season finale, then the Red Stars could claim a playoff spot with a win next Sunday, but without two key players to suspension, that might be a tall order should it come to that. Meanwhile, the Thorns will look to seal the shield and the top seed in the playoffs with a win over bottom-side Gotham FC on Saturday.
Diego Diaz has been our photographer for both the Thorns and Timbers and below is a sample of his work from Sunday and you can view more by clicking on the link:
