PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter made no bones about what had to be done to earn a result in his team’s Saturday-night match against FC Dallas.
He said leading up to the game against the then-Western Conference leaders that they would have to deal with FCD’s direct style of play, counter attack through the explosive Fabian Castillo, and set pieces. Despite giving up an early corner-kick goal, the Timbers excelled in every other aspect to notch their first win of 2015, a 3-1 decision thanks to goals from Nat Borchers, Maximiliano Urruti and Diego Chara.
“I thought we managed them very well through the run of play,” Porter said in his postgame comments. “I thought we managed Castillo extremely well; he didn’t get loose much at all. … We knew this game was going to be about them going direct, playing off second balls, looking for the counter attack to Castillo and set pieces. And I thought we managed the counter, we managed Castillo and we managed the crosses in the box to [center forwards Blas] Perez and [David] Texeira.”
The numbers tell a very favorable story for Portland, especially on the defensive end.
FC Dallas managed just eight shots on the night – three on goal. Their only goal came when Tesho Akindele got on the end of a corner kick that was flicked on by Atiba Harris.
“I don’t think we played great football tonight, but a lot of that was them, the way that Dallas plays, they play a very direct game and are very effective with it,” Porter said. “We knew this was going to be that type of game, and we need to be able to win these types of games. In MLS you have to be able to adapt to play against a team like Dallas that plays for set pieces and plays off second balls and I thought we did that, especially in the second half.”
On the other side of the ball, Portland’s offensive production came from a diverse cast of players and situations.
Borchers scored on a corner kick in the first half to give Portland a brief lead, his first goal in a Timbers shirt. A bullish run from Darlington Nagbe created the second, which came through a Dairon Asprilla cross to Urruti. And the third came on a quick counter attack off a corner-kick clearance that freed Chara for a one-on-one with Dallas goalkeeper Chris Seitz.
“Each of us has to be able to finish the goals, and today the goal opened up,” Urruti said through a translator. “And we’re incredibly happy, and it’s incredibly important to have a diverse attack.”
The win also carried with it extra meaning, given the team’s slow start last year – five points from their first eight games – that ultimately cost them a spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs. It was something Porter promised wouldn’t happen this time around; Portland now have six points from five games.
“I think we deserved it for a few weeks now from the start of the season,” center back Liam Ridgewell said. “… It’s a platform to build on now.”
Dan Itel covers the Timbers for MLSsoccer.com.
