The unbeaten runs were bound to end at some point, and in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, one of them did. The 14-game streak without a loss that the Portland Timbers had cultivated since April 8 across all competitions was snapped at Banc of California Stadium, with Los Angeles FC advancing to the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup with a 3-2 victory in the teams’ third meeting of the season.
It was the first time LAFC had defeated the Timbers, with Portland having taken four points from the teams’ two meetings in Major League Soccer. In their Open Cup meeting, though, Los Angeles had the edge from the start, ended up out-shooting their guests, 22-12, and became the first team to get the best of Giovanni Savarese’s side since Orlando City SC did so in Florida over three months ago.
“We tried to go at it, to create chances,” Savarese said, his team having given up three goals in a match for the first time since that ill-fated day in Orlando. “They created chances. It was an open game, and for me, it was good to see, for my team, players who were able to get minutes, to step on the field, and they did a very good job. I thought for the people who came here to the stadium, they found a very entertaining match.”
The players Savarese alluded to where some would-be starters who needed first-team minutes: left back Vytas, who got his third start of the season (all in Open Cup); center back Bill Tuiloma; midfielders David Guzmán and Cristhian Paredes; and forward Dairon Asprilla. Vytas would contribute a key goal early in the second half, pulling the team to within 3-2 and giving Portland life despite having trailed since the 33rd minutes
That’s when a spell on LAFC control was rewarded when an errant Guzmán header beat Timbers goalkeeper Jeff Attinella for the match’s first goal. Carlos Vela doubled the hosts’ lead five minutes later only to see Julio Cascante pull back a goal in the second minute of first-half injury time. Six minutes into the second half, an errant shot from LAFC left back Jordan Harvey found Costa Rican international Marco Ureña at the edge of Attinella’s six-yard box, leading to the match’s winning goal.
“I think both teams wanted to win,” Savarese explained, describing some of the intensity that led to referee Ramy Touchan handing out seven yellow cards. With both teams having waged a contentious 0-0 draw in MLS play on Sunday, familiarity seemed to breed discontent.
“Both teams came onto the field trying to battle to get the result that could send us through,” Savarese said, “because we knew that it was so close, for both teams, to be able to get to the final. The intensity was high, and I thought it was a very good game.”
For those who enjoy goals, it was a far more interesting match than Sunday’s, even if the beginning bore some mirror-image familiarity. But whereas it was the Timbers who generated the early match’s best chances on Sunday, it was the home side, returning eight starters from the weekend’s game, who dictated play on Wednesday. At home, eager to even their Portland score, it was LAFC that ultimately broke through.
Portland will still carry one ongoing streak into Saturday’s league match against the Montreal Impact, having gone 12 games in MLS regular-season play without a loss. At some point, that streak will end, too, just as the team’s 14-match run had to come to a close tonight. The only thing guaranteed by any streak is that eventually, it will have to stop.
But if runs have to end – and, as history shows, all of them do – ending one as the Timbers did tonight provides a worthy close. Away from home, against of the MLS’ better teams, and having spent half-a-week on the road, Portland had numerous factors working against them. While, at other times this year, the team has been able to work through those factors before, LAFC’s quality proved too much on Wednesday. And it’s LAFC that will be moving on in Open Cup.
