by Ed Pham
The game could be headlined as the following: Welcome back to the starting lineup, Diego Valeri.
The game against Vancouver may have been Valeri’s first appearance this season, but Saturday’s game against Montreal marked Valeri’s first start this season, to the Timbers’ delight. For a team that had been struggling to find goals, his return was what the team hoped would bring an end to their attacking frustration.
Valeri Makes His Return to the Lineup
The Portland side made two changes to their lineup from their game against Vancouver. Adi took back his role as the lone striker, with Urruti returning back to the bench. The most important one was Yartey making way for the Maestro, which pushed Nagbe out wide to the right. This proved useful as Nagbe could play out wide if he wanted to or provide support centrally to Valeri. It also gave Portland more playmaking and a more dynamic attack, whether it be on the counter or through possession.
Montreal’s Pressure
The first half marked a rather uncomfortable start for the Timbers. Montreal pressured the Portland defense early, which forced the Timbers to give up the ball. This allowed for the Impact attack to take advantage with some good ball movement and decent open play and set piece opportunities. Montreal’s playmaker Piattti also managed to find space and time with the ball, to which Portland was willing to let happen. However, the Timbers defense limited Montreal’s chances to long shots that didn’t see the target and held firm against the opposing set pieces.
Portland’s Attack (and Why Valeri is Key)
After the opening start, Portland began to find a bit more rhythm offensively. At the center of it all was Valeri with his vision and distribution. As the game progressed, he would find open runners like Adi and Wallace and see the open passing channels. His interplay with Nagbe in the central part of the attacking third created a huge dilemma for Montreal as well: Do you focus your defense on Valeri and let Nagbe free to dribble at your defense? Or do you focus on Nagbe and let Valeri utilize his vision and passing to break you down? Valeri’s presence, especially to give Nagbe more freedom, opened up the Montreal defense to force them to have to react and response to their attack. It provided the vision and creativity that Portland needed to find chances on the attack.
Things started to sync for the Timbers. While the ball movement and play in the central part of the field was good, the play on the wings was just as important. Wallace and Villafana linked well and caused plenty of problems for Reo-Coker, and Alvas Powell covered considerable ground and got deep into the attacking third on a few occasions as well. This forced Montreal to have to bring back attacking players like Piatti back to help defend and resort to fouling to disrupt Portland’s momentum with the ball.
The Timbers’ attack looked much better. While it did remain scoreless at half, there was a sense of confidence that they could score in the second with their playmaker back on the pitch.
An Aggressive, Positive Second Half
The second half was far more exciting than an otherwise conservative first half. Portland came out pressing the Montreal defense and taking more chances. It allowed them to get some early looks with Adi heading down a cross to Valeri, who couldn’t get a good touch on it, and Nagbe’s screamer.
Montreal would hit back at the Portland defense as well, though still remained content with shooting from outside the eighteen. But Portland remained alert, as they did well to put enough men in the box to force Montreal to continue to have resort to shoot from outside the 18. Any opportunities that managed to get inside the 18 were dealt with, whether it be Chara and Wallace stopping Reo-Coker’s run into the box, Kwarasey picking off any crosses in the area, or getting bodies in front to block an otherwise shot on goal. The Portland defense continued to show discipline in the back and it was paying off.
Portland’s Goals Show Persistence
Portland finally found their breakthrough on a corner, as Chara found the ball off a Montreal clearance on a Portland corner. His cross into the box finds an open Ridgewell, who heads it to Adi. Adi’s shot hits the crossbar, but Borchers (who was onside on Adi’s shot, as he was behind the ball when the shot was taken) puts it into the back of the net for his second goal of the game. It was through that persistence against a steady Montreal defense and mentality to stick with the play that resulted in that goal, which was also key in the second goal as well.
Rodney Wallace’s role in the second half, particularly in his matchup against Reo-Coker, proved to be extremely important in Portland’s goals and chances. Wallace had a big chance after Nagbe dribbled it to the 18 before making a through ball to him, only to find his low shot saved by Bush. It was his second key moment that lead to the eventual game-winning goal. Valeri’s pass to find Wallace was good, but it was Wallace’s ability to stick with it and hold off a physical Reo-Coker that allowed him to get the pass to Valeri for his stunning finish to beat Bush on the far post. Timbers wanted to expose Reo-Coker through Wallace during the second half by forcing him into one-on-one chances on plenty of occasions. It worked as they got that second goal.
If there was a theme to those two goals, it was their ability to not give up or let up against physical play. Their persistence paid off and gave them a two goal cushion.
Montreal Subs Gets One Back and Almost an Equalizer
Montreal brings in Eric Alexander and Dominic Oduro for Mallace and Duka, respectively. Alexander and Oduro’s play in the build-up to their goal was crucial as Alexander managed to find Piatti, who chips it to Oduro. While Oduro’s header was blocked, it was Alexander that followed up and drove a hard shot that forced Kwarasey to make a good save. But Timbers were caught napping as the ball fell right to Oduro, who drove the shot past the Timbers keeper to get them back within striking distance of a point. Portland had only Borchers and Kwarasey in the vicinity of the two Impact players and Montreal punished them for it.
Montreal nearly got an equalizer back against Portland. A Montreal corner found Piatti with an open header to MacInerney, who headed it past Kwarasey into the back of the net. However, officials called off the goal as MacInerney shoved Jewsbury down in order to find himself free for the open header. It was concerning that Piatti was able to find that open header in the first place that could have led to the goal.
For what seemed like another strong defensive showing from the Timbers could have been marred by a second defensive lapse in what would have been the same old story this season.
Portland Struggle to Put Away the Game
With the game close in the last 15 minutes of the game, Montreal pressed forward to try to get that second goal. It exposed them defensively, as Portland were able to find opportunities hit them back on the counter. Wallace had a great opportunity to take on Reo-Coker one-on-one, only to have his shot blocked. Adi got the rebound, but took a little too much time and Soumare made a crucial tackle to clear the danger.
While the subs provided some Portland was reminded of their need to improve on their finishing this season through plenty of missed opportunities in the last ten minutes of the game. Yartey came on for Wallace and managed to find some interplay with Adi, but his shot was hit wide. Urruti came on for Adi in the waning minutes of the game. He had some influence on the game as he was provided three chances against the Montreal defense on the counter via long balls and through balls. A crucial one-on-one against Bush should have seen Portland with at least a two goal cushion, but Urruti was left on the pitch rueing his missed chance.
With opportunities aplenty for the last minutes of the game and guys that scored plenty of goals last season like Urruti and Adi, everyone has to be wondering why this team is misfiring and struggling with their finishing as much as they are. But with both strikers struggling, who do you start in upcoming games: Adi or Urruti? Adi’s chance had Bush beat but was unlucky to have hit the woodwork. Adi’s chances were more difficult than Urruti’s this game, as he had to square up against Montreal’s defenders to take some of his shots. Compare this to Urruti’s missed shots on breakaways and the team has to think that Adi is certainly the choice for the time being.
The Growth of Alvas Powell
While Valeri took the spotlight, someone that hasn’t gotten as much recognition is right back Alvas Powell. Powell showed another impressive game and proved to be a defensive force at the Stade Saputo. For such a young player as he is, he made crucial, clean tackles near the 18 to fend off the attack and come out with the ball. He added to his already MLS lead in tackles by winning nine tackles. In addition, he had eight interceptions, had one shot and one successful dribble to earn the highest ratings for his play from both teams that game.
This has been a continual trend that we’ve seen this season as he’s been improving not only as a defender, but as an attacker as well. Especially as Nagbe enjoys to move in centrally to the pitch, Powell has done well to cover that right wing on the attack and providing runs on and off the ball. While parts of his game still need improvement (only 65% passing success rate this season), he is only 20 years old and still has a lot of room to grow and develop, which is exciting for the Timbers organization and its fans.
Final Thoughts
Portland weathered through the storm in the early and late parts of the game against the Montreal attack. However, the same questions keep coming up. Can they remain steadfast on defense for an entire 90 minutes and not have a defensive lapse? Can their attacking players fix their finishing problems and start scoring more regularly? Those questions will continue for the Timbers. But in the meantime, one thing is certain: They’re happy to have Diego Valeri back in the starting lineup.
Ed Pham is a Timbers contributor for Prost Amerika. He can be found on Twitter at @edpham, covering the Portland Timbers, Arsenal, Olympique Lyonnais, and Ligue 1.
Stats taken from WhoScored.com.
