Gleeson’s performance was crucial to Portland’s clean sheet. Photo by Diego Diaz.
Timbers, Red Bulls Scoreless in NY
By Ed Pham
Portland Timbers got their second clean sheet in as many days, but were also left scoreless, as they took a point in a 0-0 draw against the New York Red Bulls on Sunday at Red Bull Arena. Both teams looked to run similar 4-2-3-1 formation with Fanendo Adi and Bradley Wright-Phillips heading the top of the attack for their respective sides. Both strikers had nine goals coming into the game and were looking to add to their tally in the Golden Boot race.
The first major event was an unfortunate one, as Darren Mattocks found himself injured within the first minute of the game chasing after a long pass. He was subbed off and replaced by Ned Grabavoy. The Red Bulls looked to try to possess and find intricate passing within the attacking third, but the Timbers defense remained stout and utilize their speed up front to find chances, even with Mattocks out.
The Timbers found the first shot on target of the game after Ben Zemanski hit a long diagonal ball towards the top of the penalty area that found Nat Borchers. He flicked the ball onto Lucas Melano’s path, who hit a shot towards the far post with the outside of his right foot. However, Luis Robles managed to paw away the zipping shot with a textbook save.
In the 20th minute, the Red Bulls had their own injury, as Gideon Baah went down while jogging back after a corner kick. He would be replaced by Damien Perrinelle.
New York spend much of the half in the Timbers third, as Portland was willing to concede possession in order to try to exploit the Red Bulls high defensive line. The Timbers kept their defensive shape and were always alert at the danger that the hosts provided them. The Red Bulls managed to take six shots to the Timbers’ two, but couldn’t find the back of the net, to the visitors’ avail.
Much like the first half, the Timbers were willing to sit back, soak up the Red Bulls’ attack, and look to counter. The Timbers’ best chance of the second half came off a volley from Zemanski off a Timbers counter. The Red Bulls struggled to clear Melano’s pass to Adi in the penalty area for Grabavoy to run onto. There he found Zemanski at the top of the box, who hit it well. His shot hit the woodwork and left hosts breathing a sigh of relief.
New York started to find chances late in the second half. Mike Grella managed to get a through ball that caught the Timbers backline by surprise. It required some heroics from Jake Gleeson to deny Felipe from giving the Red Bulls the lead. In injury time, Bradley Wright-Phillips managed to cut through the Timbers defense and find Felipe open to try to grab the injury-time winner for the home team. Gleeson was not going to let his clean sheet disappear, as he pushed it away with two hands to then watch it hit the crossbar and go over the goal.
Soon, the referee blew his whistle and the game ended 0-0. Portland players were content with the draw, despite being held scoreless. Much like last year, the Timbers are finding their stride going into the second half of the season. A point was earned on the road and the Timbers extended their unbeaten streak to seven.
