by Matt Hoffman (@mhoff)
The Philadelphia Union were a solid test for the Portland Timbers as they wind down the regular season with a 2-1 victory in their penultimate regular season match of 2016. The two sides roughly equal in several aspects: shots (18 to 15), open play crosses (11 vs. 11), total passes (372 to 360) and possession (50.5 % to 49.5%). At the end of the day, they are also tied on points at 41.
The Timbers overtake Sporting Kansas City, who host the LA Galaxy Sunday, for fifth in the Western Conference while Philadelphia remains three points ahead of Montreal courtesy of the Impact losing 3-1 to New England. It’s the second time in as many games that Montreal lost a home match to a team below the red-line following a 4-1 loss to Orlando City.
HT- A chippy first half most notable for the way Timbers defender Steven Taylor got up close and person with Union goalkeeper Andre Lewis. Taylor’s aerial ability is one of the Englishman’s talents that brought him in as an in-season replacement for Nat Borchers.
46′ Goal! Diego Valeri puts the Timbers ahead as spectators are still finding their seats! Timbers 1:0 Union
47′ Goal! 76 seconds later Chris Pontius ends his five-game scoreless streak with the equalizer. Timbers 1:1 Union.
53′ Fanendo Adi scores the game winner Timbers 2:1 Union
85′ Joshua Yaro gets his second yellow card and the Union, once so close to finding a second method to make the score level, are resigned to a loss to begin their three-game road trip.
With the win, Portland has a league-leading 11 home wins. This is a far cry from the Timbers road form where they are the sole MLS club yet to register a road win. Portland has two more opportunities to remedy this in the regular season. First up, Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium on Saturday 24th at 6 p.m. (PST).
Philadelphia Union
Portland
