MATCH RECAP | Portland Timbers earn 0-0 draw with Houston Dynamo FC

HOUSTON – Goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic was credited with four saves – three of them sparkling – and the Portland Timbers battled to a 0-0 draw on the road against 10-man Houston Dynamo FC Saturday evening at PNC Stadium.

• MATCHCENTER: Stats and Boxscore

Match Moments

7' - SAVE (POR) - Timbers goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic came up big with a key save early to deny Houston's Darwin Quintero who was in on goal after a Portland defensive mistake. Quintero's right-footed shot was stopped point-blank by Ivacic who then recovered to gather the attempt off a rebound shot.

18' - SAVE (POR) - Ivacic again had a spectacular save as Houston's Fafà Picault burst through from midfield on a breakaway. Ivacic alertly came off his line and denied the Dynamo shot and then scrambled back to gather the loose ball.

39' - CHANCE (POR) - Portland, on the attack, pounced on a Houston turnover with Cristhian Paredes nailing a shot on the half-volley from just outside the box that Dynamo goalkeeper Steve Clark pushed over the bar. On the ensuing corner, the ball sailed to Bill Tuiloma on the back post who hit his shot back across the goal with the ball just kissing the left post and away.

56' - CHANCE (POR) - Diego Chara worked the ball with Yimmi Chara along the edge of the 18-yard box with Y. Chara bursting through and taking a sharp-angled shot from near the endline that Clark jumped to save.

64' - SAVE (POR) - On a curling Houston free kick from 30 yards out, the ball was headed down towards goal but Ivacic dove to his left and pushed the shot off the post and away.

75' - RED CARD (HOU) - Dynamo defender Teenage Hadebe, already on a yellow from the first half, earned a second yellow and accompanying red card for a foul against Y. Chara leaving Houston with 10 men for the remainder of the match.

84' - CHANCE (POR) - With Portland patiently working the ball around the Houston box, midfielder Eryk Williamson – who had just subbed into the match – fired a shot that was slightly deflected and went narrowly wide of the top left corner.

90+5' - CHANCE (POR) - Portland's David Ayala fizzed a ball ahead for Y. Chara who tapped it to Marvin Loría who knocked it back but the Colombian's final shot was wide of the right post.

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The Portland Timbers return to Providence Park next weekend to host Real Salt Lake on Saturday, April 23 (7pm PT, TICKETS, FOX 12 PLUS).

Portland Timbers (2-2-4, 10pts) vs. Houston Dynamo FC (3-1-3, 12pts)
April 16, 2022 – PNC Stadium (Houston, Tex.)

Scoring Summary: 
none

Misconduct Summary:
POR: Paredes (caution), 16
POR: Blanco (caution), 27 
HOU: Hadebe (caution), 27
POR: Y. Chara (caution), 49
HOU: Hadebe (caution, ejection), 75
POR: Tuiloma (caution), 81

Lineups:
POR: GK Ivacic, D Van Rankin (Zuparic, 83), D Tuiloma, D Mabiala, D Bravo, M D. Chara ©, M Paredes (Ayala, 63), M Y. Chara, M Moreno (Loría, 71), M Blanco (Williamson, 82), F Niezgoda (Asprilla, 62)

Substitutes Not Used: GK Bingham, D Bonilla, D McGraw, D Rasmussen

TOTAL SHOTS: 14 (Tuiloma, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2 (Paredes, Blanco, 1); FOULS: 12 (Tuiloma, D. Chara, 3); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 12; SAVES: 4

HOU: GK Clark, D Lundqvist, D Hadebe, D Parker, D Dorsey (Zeca, 59), M Carrasquilla, M Vera (Rodríguez, 78), M Picault, M Quintero (Bartlow, 78), M Pasher (Baird, 59), F Ferreira (Úlfarsson, 67)

Substitutes Not Used: GK Valdez, D Valentin, D Junqua, M Cerén

TOTAL SHOTS: 14 (Quintero, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (Piccault, Quintero, 2); FOULS: 11 (Ferreira, 4); OFFSIDES: 3; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 2

Referee: Rosendo Mendoza
Assistant Referees: Cory Richardson, Kevin Klinger
Fourth Official: Ramy Touchan
VAR: Daniel Radford
Attendance: 13,650
Weather: Partly cloudy, 87 degrees  

All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial

Notes

• The Timbers earned their second shutout this season, and first on the road of the 2022 campaign.
• Portland has earned points in three of its four road matches this season (LAFC, Vancouver, Houston).
• Portland is undefeated against Houston in seven straight matches (4-0-3), and four on the road at PNC Stadium (1-0-3) dating back to May 15, 2019. 
• The scoreless draw snapped Portland’s 14-game scoring streak, dating back to October 27, 2021, tallying 25 goals during that stretch.
• With three fouls committed, D. Chara broke the all-time MLS record of 756, previously set by Kyle Beckerman. The record is now held by D. Chara with 759. 
• Blanco surpassed 10,000 regular season minutes played for Portland. He is just the fifth player in Timbers history to log 10,000 minutes while with the club behind Diego Chara, Jack Jewsbury, Darlington Nagby and Diego Valeri. 
• Blanco played a season high 82 minutes tonight.
• Cristhian Paredes played in his 100th match across all competitions for Portland. 
• Bill Tuiloma led the team with four shots for the third time this season.
• Santiago Moreno logged his 10th career start for the Timbers.