PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Timbers’ hopes of finishing first in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference suffered a major blow on Wednesday night, with an 83rd-minute goal from the Colorado Rapids’ Kellyn Acosta at Providence Park condemning the Timbers to a 1-0 loss and knocking Portland out of first place in their conference.
With MLS’s recent change of ranking criteria in its standings, losses mean teams can lose ground based on their results alone. While Portland came into the night averaging 1.91 points per game, they now average 1.73, dropping them behind Sporting Kansas City (1.8) and Seattle Sounders FC (1.75) at the final whistle.
“We have to analyze this match, look at some things, look at the guys,” head coach Giovanni Savarese said after the loss. “We tried some rotations today in order to make sure that we utilize the players in the best possible way. It’s also good for some players to get minutes, because we’re going to need everybody. Now we will prepare for LAFC, which is our final match and another difficult game that we have to try to give everything we have in order to get three points.”
The Timbers’ new place in the West is one area of concern after Wednesday’s loss. Another is the loss itself, and how it happened.
Coming into the match, Portland hadn’t lost since October 14, when a 2-1 defeat at Real Salt Lake came after short rest and travel. Despite Colorado being in that identical situation on Wednesday, the Rapids took full points out of Goose Hollow, earning a result that moved them within 0.08 points of fifth in the conference.
“Today was a difficult match,” the night’s captain, midfielder Diego Chara, said afterward. “We created a few opportunities to score, we [weren’t] effective. And on the other hand, Colorado gets the opportunity in the second half, and they did it. [That was] the difference in this game today.”
For Portland, the attack looked little like one that came into the night as MLS’s most potent, producing only three shots in the first half and never clicking until Yimmi Chara and Diego Valeri came off the bench in the second half. After those substitutions, the Timbers nearly had go-ahead goals in the 54th minute, when Chara shot high from the middle of the penalty area; in the 64th minute, when an Andy Polo volley went wide of William Yarborough’s near post; in the 75th minute, when a backheel from Valeri to Jorge Villafaña ended with a shot into the side netting; and in the 77th minute, when Felipe Mora’s far-post chip never reached Chara’s head thanks to a great read from Rapids defender Lalas Abubakar.
Until those chances, Colorado’s defense held strong, clogging up play through the midfield by anticipating passes Portland tried to play forward. Repeatedly, as the Timbers tried to pass from their defensive line toward their attackers, Rapids players would be first to the ball, winning possession or pushing Portland back up the field.
From Savarese’s point of view, the Timbers’ frustrations had less to do with the Rapids’ execution, more to do with his team’s failure to explore other options.
“That's an area I think [the Rapids] were able to cover more because we didn't find it quick enough,” Savarese began, explaining why Colorado was effective breaking up Portland’s passes. “The idea was more about finding the space [then] to find the space in behind, for other players to make the run. We did it in the first half when Mora found some spaces there.
“We know that in some moments, they mark one-v-one, and they follow you. So you have to move them around to create space. We didn't move quick enough into those areas ... overall, it's more about what we didn't do than anything else.”
Perhaps some of Portland’s poor execution was the team’s change in personnel. Ahead of Sunday’s season finale at Los Angeles FC, the starting lineup had a number of changes, with regular starters like Villafaña, Valeri, Yimmi Chara and Larrys Mabiala beginning the night on the bench. The Timbers were also with Jeremy Ebobisse for a fourth consecutive game (recovering from a concussion) and were playing their first game after Jaroslaw Niezgoda’s season-ending knee injury on Sunday.
At times, there was a lack of cohesion. Passes trying to play teammates into space were hit too hard, or extra touches undermined rhythm as players tried to form ideas. When substitutions happened and cohesion returned, Portland nearly salvaged a win, though in the 83rd minute, thanks to two more interceptions as the Timbers tried to build, it was Colorado that captured a crucial result.
With it, the Timbers’ momentum is lost, but they’ll have a chance to regroup. Sunday’s regular-season finale at LAFC on AT&T Decision Day (3:30pm PT, FS1) gives Portland an opportunity to get back on course, as well as show the potential they hope to carry into the MLS playoffs.
