PORTLAND, Ore. – Diego Chara, Jaroslaw Niezgoda, SebastÃan Blanco and Felipe Mora all scored but the Portland Timbers drew 4-4 to Real Salt Lake Saturday evening at Providence Park.
6' - GOAL (POR) - The Timbers went up early when they capitalized on a Real Salt Lake defensive mistake. As RSL goalkeeper Andrew Putna attempted to play a goal kick short to his defenders, Portland's high press of Jaroslaw Niezgoda and Diego Valeri pinned the visitors back. Putna played the ball centrally to the edge of the 18-yard box but then Timbers midfielder Diego Chara swooped in, picked the pocket of midfielder Pablo Ruiz, rounded the 'keeper and slotted the ball into the back of the net for a 1-0 Portland advantage.
13' - SAVE (POR) - An RSL ball over the top found Justin Meram on the left side who shed his defender and hit a shot on goal that was deflected away by Portland goalkeeper Steve Clark.
19' - GOAL (RSL) - Real Salt Lake equalized as Albert Rusnak curled a free kick from the edge of the area into the box. In the scramble for the ball, RSL forward Corey Baird knocked the ball into the net to make it 1-1.
21' - GOAL (POR) - Two minutes later, Portland went up again on a textbook corner kick. Valeri sent in an outswinging ball from the near side that Niezgoda connected with on a thumping header to make the score 2-1 for the Timbers.
37' - SAVE (POR) - Clark sprawled to his right to palm away a close-in shot from RSL's Damir Kreilach.
48' - GOAL (RSL) - On a Real Salt Lake corner kick, the ball was headed out to the near post where Kreilach acrobatically kicked it into the net to make the score 2-2.
62' - CHANCE (POR) - Portland, following a strong counter forward, kept RSL pushed into their own end. Valeri threaded a ball forward for SebastÃan Blanco in the box. His sharp-angled shot was saved by Putna.
70' - GOAL (POR) - Forward Jeremy Ebobisse played a ball out wide to Blanco on the right near midfield. Blanco dribbled forward some 30 yards before cutting in and beautifully curling a shot from the edge of the box and into the upper 90 to put Portland back up 3-2.
74' - CHANCE (POR) - Forward Felipe Mora smoothly swept past an RSL defender in the box and then cut a square ball to Valeri but the Argentine sent his shot over the bar.
77' - CHANCE (POR) - Portland sprang out on a 3-on-1 counter. Blanco ended up with the ball on the left side but this skipping shot went just wide of the right post.
85' - GOAL (POR) - In a crazy back-and-forth moment, RSL thought they had equalized when a shot off a corner pinged off the inside of the Portland post and back to Clark who smothered it. He played the ball to Blanco who then spied Mora open upfield on the counter. Mora went in on RSL defender Nedum Onuoha before deftly tucking a shot inside the left post to make it a 4-2 lead.
90' - GOAL (RSL) - Real Salt Lake pulled one back when Kreilach found Giuseppe Rossi in the box who took it down, spun and scored to make the score 4-3 in favor of Portland.
90+4' - GOAL (RSL) - RSL pulled even in second half stoppage time as Corey Baird cut through defenders, passed to Sam Johnson who then scored to make it 4-4.
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Portland will stay in town to host the LA Galaxy at Providence Park on Sept. 2. Kickoff is 7:30pm PT on FOX 12 PLUS (KPDX).
Portland Timbers (3-2-2, 11pts) vs. Real Salt Lake (2-1-4, 10pts)
Aug. 29, 2020 – Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 1 3 4
Portland Timbers 2 2 4
Scoring Summary:
POR: D. Chara, 6
RSL: Baird, 19
POR: Niezgoda (Valeri), 21
RSL: Kreilach, 48
POR: Blanco (Ebobisse), 70
POR: Mora (Blanco), 85
RSL: Rossi (Kreilach, Baird), 90
RSL: Johnson (Baird), 90+4
Misconduct Summary:
POR: D. Chara (caution), 30
POR: Mabiala (caution), 67
POR: Williamson (caution), 69
RSL: Johnson (caution), 81
Lineups:
POR: GK Clark, D Duvall, D Mabiala, D Zuparic, D Villafaña, M D. Chara, M Williamson (Paredes, 78), M Ebobisse (Polo, 78), M Valeri © (Zambrano, 90+2), M Blanco (LorÃa, 90+2), F Niezgoda (Mora, 67)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Ivacic, D Bonilla, D Cascante, M Conechny
TOTAL SHOTS: 15 (Blanco, 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Blanco, 2); FOULS: 10 (Mabiala, 3); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: 4
RSL: GK Putna, D Herrera, D Silva, D Onuoha, D Toia, M Chang (Rossi, 84), M Kreilach, M Ruiz (Johnson, 81), M Baird, M Meram (Luiz, 66), F Rusnák
Substitutes Not Used: GK MacMath, D Holt, M Besler, M Portillo, F Rossi, F Schmitt, F Iloski
TOTAL SHOTS: 29 (Kreilach, 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 8 (Kreilach, Ruiz, 2); FOULS: 7 (Kreilach, 3); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 13; SAVES: 1
Referee: Ismail Elfath
Assistant Referees: Jeffrey Greeson, Mike Rottersman
4th Official: Michael Radchuk
VAR: Daniel Radford
Weather: Partly cloudy, 75 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
