Portland Timbers fans during the MLS regular season 2-2 tie between the Portland Timbers and LAFC at Providence Park on April 13, 2024 (Photo by Diego G Diaz).
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The Portland Timbers hosted LAFC in a rare Afternoon match at Providence Park. A win in front of the home crowd would put the Timbers in sixth place, jumping ahead of LAFC in the western conference standings. Both teams were in green kits, the Timbers still without a sponsor on theirs.
Timbers head coach Phil Neville made changes to his starting lineup. Felipe Mora was in the classic number 9 position, flanked by Jonathan Rodriguez on the left and Anthony on the right, with Evander in the center 10 spot. Captain Diego Chara and David Ayala took care of the midfield with a backline of Bravo, Kamal Miller, Arauio and Mosquera defending. Maxime Crépeau was in goal to face off against his former team.
Timbers midfielder Evander Ferreira sends the assists for Portland first goal. (Photo by Diego G. Diaz)
Portland started off strong in the first half with a great run from Rodriguez to connect with Antony, who’s shot was just off target in the 2nd minute. The Timbers looked sharp with their passes and creative play in the first 20 minutes.
In the 12th minute Evander sent a ball toward the center of the box where Mora was there to put the ball in the far back corner of the net. The Timbers go up 1-0 on LA.
Timbers forward Felipe Mora scores Portland’s first goal. (Photo by Diego G. Diaz).
Immediately after the goal in the 14th minute, Mora was given the first yellow of the match by head referee, Rubiel Vazquez, for “poor sportsmanship” for kicking the ball after the whistle was blown over a foul by Evander.
LAFC got the equalizing goal in the 21st minute with a tough angled shot by Mateusz Bogusz. Crépeau made a fantastic save in the 26th minute to prevent LA from gaining the lead.
The Timbers made a run in the 34th minute that had everything working together. Mosquera drew two defenders while in possession of the ball, leaving Evander open for the pass in the center of goal. Evander collected the ball with his chest and, in an acrobatic flip move, served the ball to himself then struck while the ball was still in the air. A brilliant goal that put Portland up 2-1.
Timbers midfielder Evander Ferreira scores Portland’s second goal. (Photo by Diego G.Diaz)
In almost comic symmetry, Evander earned the team’s second yellow after his goal in the exact same way Mora did. Not to be left out of the “poor sportsmanship” yellow card club, LAFC’s Sergi Palencia earned their first yellow just 4 minutes after Evander.
Rubiel Vazquez was just getting started on his yellow card presentations. In the 5+ minutes of stoppage time LAFC deservedly earned two more. The first was for a such a hard shove to Miguel Araujo by Denis Bouanga that Crépeau had to jump over Araujo to avoid a full collision.
One of the many many yellow cards during the MLS regular season 2-2 tie between the Portland Timbers and LAFC (Photo by Diego G. Diaz)
The second yellow to LAFC in stoppage time went to Ilie Sánchez for a late tackle against Rodriguez.
The second half saw Christian Paredes take the pitch in place of Ayala, who is working his way back from an ACL injury. Five minutes in to play, the Timbers were forced to make another substitution when Crépeau was given a red card for a hard cleats up foul against former teammate and good friend, Denis Bouanga just outside the box.
Timbers defender Claudio Bravo wins a ball. (Photo by Diego G. Diaz)
There was confusion on the play about whether Bouanga was offside or not before the foul. It was determined that Bravo tracked him, keeping him on side and the red card stood. Crépeau was replaced by James Pantemis in the box, forcing Neville to pull Mora from the game.
Talking in the post game interview Coach Neville said, “When you get down to 10 men, the last player I wanted to take off was Mora, but he was on a yellow card and I couldn’t see anyone else on the team. You want to keep your DPs on the field.”
Timbers winger Anthony fights for possession with LAFC defender Ryan Hollingshead. (Photo by Diego G. Diaz)
LAFC was given a free kick just outside of the 18 yard line for the foul. Bogusz sent the ball just over the stationary Timbers wall and straight to the back of the net without Pantemis moving off his spot. The match was tied 2-2 with the Timbers left to play a man down for the remaining 40+ minutes.
The match had a palpable intensity and was incredibly chippy for the remaining time. In the 53rd minute Rodriguez’s header off of Evander’s corner kick was saved by LAFC’s keeper, Hugo Lloris.
LAFC made a double substitution in the 63rd removing two yellow carded players, Sánchez and Palencia, for Kei Kamara and Omar Campos.
LAFC forward Matheus Bugusz scores a free kick. (Photo by Diego G. Diaz)
The Timbers followed with two substitutions in the 67th. Dairon Asprilla came on for Mosquera and Santi Moreno took over for Antony. “I thought with Dairon and Santi we’d freshen up in wide areas and maybe counter attack but we found it difficult to maintain possession,” said Neville.
Neville also had Diego Chara move to right back because of “experience” and needing to defend a man down. The corner kick that followed the substitution saw another header by Rodriguez saved by Lloris.
In the 71st minute LAFC’s Ryan Hollingshead pulled Asprillia to the ground and earned himself a place in Vazquez’s book with a caution. Bogusz got the 4th yellow of the match for kicking the ball after the whistle in the 76th minute.
Timbers Claudio Bravo strong shot collides on LAFC forward Tamara incapacitating him for a few minutes. (Photo by Diego G. Diaz)
Portland traded out Rodriguez for defender Eric Miller in the 83rd. “When we put Johnathan to center forward he was gassed, he was struggling on the left hand side because they were pinning him back. So, we wanted to freshen up in the wide areas,” said Neville.
LA made a substitution in the 86th bringing on Ordaz for Olivera. In the 87th, they were given their 6th yellow card for a bad foul when Eduard Atuesta tripped up and pulled Evander down.
There were 7+ minutes of stoppage time added. In 90+3 Pantemis made an epic diving save from the corner post when Bouanga sent a rocket from close range then, Kamara failed in his rebound attempt.
Portland Timbers Dairon Asprilla (Photo by Diego G Diaz).
The match ended with the Timbers managing to hold LAFC to a draw despite playing a man down for 47 minutes. In his post game comments Phil Neville said, “I was just really pleased with the determination. I think we spoke three weeks ago about mentality -I think we showed that mentality today. I think there is a clear identity forming with our mentality and I’m super proud of the way that they played.”
