Liam Ridgwell asks for the ball and receives to open the scoring. Photo: Mark G Murray
The Portland Timbers welcomed the San Jose Earthquakes to town Wednesday evening, and it took all of eleven minutes for captain Liam Ridgewell to upset the visitors as he rose highest to put Portland ahead in the early goings.
That news would not sit well with San Jose manager Dominic Kinnear, who was forced to stay home after suffering a minor injury in a car accident before the team left the Bay Area to embark to the Rose City.
Things got interesting shortly before the break when the Quakes were handed a lifeline by the officials, Dairon Asprilla shown a straight red card after what appeared an inadvertent elbow to the head of Jordan Stewart was deemed violent conduct.
The second half saw the home side sit back and soak up pressure, a job Taylor Peay at right back seemed to relish as the team played a man down.
Stewart was fortunate only to see a yellow after scything down Diego Valeri from behind at the hour mark, the Argentine midfielder replaced shortly thereafter with Lucas Melano his replacement in the 64th minute.
Fanendo Adi failed to find the target but managed to keep San Jose at bay. Photo: Mark G Murray
That was one of the rare highlights of the second half until Quincy Amirikwa nearly headed home an equalizer with less than a quarter hour remaining, but Fanendo Adi’s head intervened in timely fashion to see the ball go harmlessly over the crossbar.
As the match neared the 90th minute Shea Salinas came in a bit hard on Timbers goalkeeper Jake Gleeson when he caught a loose ball, but although Ridgewell quickly came to his side the Kiwi was more than pleased to let San Jose waste time as he could sense his and the team’s first clean sheet of the season.
Portland ended the match with a 1-nil victory, a workmanlike effort rewarded in a midweek outing against a Quakes side lacking the leadership to take advantage of an extra man.
Portland Timbers (5-6-4, 19pts) vs. San Jose Earthquakes (5-4-5, 20pts)
June 1, 2016 – Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
San Jose Earthquakes 0 0 0
Portland Timbers 1 0 1
Scoring Summary:
POR: Ridgewell (Valeri), 11
Misconduct Summary:
SJ: Silva (Caution), 17
POR: Asprilla (Ejection), 45+1
SJ: Stewart (Caution), 61
SJ: Barrett (Caution), 78
SJ: Pérez García (Catution), 90+2
Lineups & Stats:
POR: GK Gleeson, D Peay, D Borchers, D Ridgewell ©, D Valentin, M Chara, M Zemanski, M Asprilla, M Valeri (Melano, 64), M Grabavoy (Okugo, 90+2), F Adi (Jewsbury, 82)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Hamilton, D Klute, M Barmby, F McInerney
TOTAL SHOTS: 2 (Chara, Ridgewell, 1); SHOTS ON GOAL: 1 (Ridgewell, 1); FOULS: 13 (Chara, 3); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 1; SAVES:3
SJ: GK Bingham, D Sarkodie, D Wynne, D Bernárdez ©, D Stewart (Cato, 76), M Salinas, M Alashe, M Silva (Thompson, 46), M Pérez García, F Barrett (Jahn, 81), F Amarikwa
Substitutes Not Used: GK Meredith, F Innocent, D Imperiale
TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Amarikwa, 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Three players tied, 1); FOULS: 20 (Alashe, 5); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: 0
Referee: Chris Penso
Assistant Referees: Jeremy Hanson, Mike Rottersman
4th Official: Tyler Ploeger
Attendance: 21,144
Weather: Partly cloudy, 73 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial.
San Jose Earthquakes
Portland
