Timbers Losing Streak Extended On A Very Emotional Night At The Park

Pandemonium struck in the 34th minutes, and it was awesome

Derby matches are always emotional and draining because there are always stakes involved, even if there isn't anything official to play for. It's part of what makes the rivalries so important, especially one like the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders FC enjoy. Sure, there is plenty of animosity over various results and situations over the years, but every once in a while, there are the occasional signs of mutual respect. The August 23rd date between the Timbers and the Sounders FC had plenty of actual stakes involved with the result - the fate of the Cascadia Cup would be determined to see if Seattle, the current holders, could continue their stewardship of the cup with a victory in the Rose City while also firming up their position within the top of the Western Conference standings. Portland, meanwhile, has struggled mightily at their home grounds after posting an emphatic win over their other Cascadian Rival, Vancouver, just two weeks previously in a driving rainstorm. While Portland did defeat Chicago days later, but the Timbers lost their focus and composure as the Fire nearly pulled even in stoppage time after Portland jumped to a big lead. Atlanta came in days later as the Timbers continued to try and find themselves, but a Josef Martinez goal seconds into the second half effectively squashed any chance for a rally as the Timbers absorbed a difficult loss at home. This match itself followed a similar pattern to the previous match in terms of play, but the Timbers were able to make it interesting and keep it close until the final moments. Unfortunately, the team lost their second match in a row at home by a 2 to 1 score, but this match had plenty of other implications happening off the pitch that added to the raw emotion of the night.

Timbers Coach Gio Savarese has been lamenting the team's struggles with focus and composure since nearly coughing up the lead against Chicago despite scoring two early goals and being up a man due to an ejection in the 30th minute. Portland fell behind against Atlanta off a deflected goal in the first half, but the strike by Martinez right after the break seemed to pull the energy out of the team for any sort of comeback. With Larrys Mabiala still out due to injury and Jorge Moreira not available due to accumulation suspension, Savarese had to make some adjustments to a backline that has been struggling at moments in the past few weeks. Zarek Valentin received the call to start as the right fullback alongside center backs Julio Cascante and Bill Tuiloma, with Jorge Villafana manning the left side with Steve Clark again between the posts in goal once again. Savarese employed Diego Chara and Cristhian Paredes as the defensive midfielders, both having played some of their best soccer over the past few weeks, with the attacking trio of Marvin Loria, Diego Valeri and Sebastian Blanco manning the midfield attackers. Savarese chose to stay with Brian Fernandez as the lone striker despite his struggles against Atlanta, including a disallowed goal in the first half, but Gio could bring on Jeremy Ebobisse as another scoring option if needed. While the Timbers have enjoyed decent bouts of possession and chances over the past few matches, the ability to break down goal scoring opportunities has been the big issue; whether it's a lack of creativity, patience, composure or whatever, the Timbers simply haven't been able to make things very easy for themselves in the past couple of matches.

Special Olympics celebrated their Timbers & Sounders teams at the half.

Seattle, on the other hand, has been trying to figure out what kind of team they are as they've been consistently inconsistent for most of the season. It's probably hard to think that with the Sounders being in the top of the Western Conference, but outside of LAFC who has been taking victory laps around most of MLS this season, everybody else in the West either looks amazing one minute and horrible the next. Seattle hasn't been very good on the road either, but any team that has Raul Ruidiaz, Cristian Roldan, Nicolas Lodiero and Jordan Morris in their attacking arsenal can't be overlooked. The Sounders were also excited at the recent play of Xavier Arreaga at center back, especially with Roman Torres suspended for several months for a drug offense. Sounders FC goalkeeper Stefan Frei remains one of the best in the league in terms of saves and distribution, so the Timbers would have to find some true quality to score in this match. Savarese told his team this match was very important because of the stakes involved including the fate of the Cascadia Cup, but for Seattle Coach Brian Schmetzer, his goals were much simpler for his side - establish some consistency to gain some confidence going into the final weeks of the year. Seattle has just 7 matches left in 2019 while Portland has just 8 after this fixture, so there aren't many matches left in the year to establish anything solid before this year's new playoff format. The top seed avoids the play in round altogether, and each leg is just one match hosted by the higher seeded team, so being in the top 4 guarantees at least one home date.

As important as the match was for the teams playing, the event took on even more significance because of escalating tensions between the Timbers and their staunch supporters, the Timbers Army. Since the introduction of certain language in the MLS Fan Code of Conduct prohibiting political actions back in March, there have been rising actions between the team and the Timbers Army  surrounding the use of the Iron Front symbol. Actions have escalated since the Vancouver match with supporters boycotting stadium purchases and creating several displays and clothing with the Iron Front logo, but as we covered in our last entry, the team took extraordinary measures to post a press release doubling down on the policy and indicating the Iron Front logo would be prohibited on any large displays. It could, however, be used on clothing and small individual banners. Knowing this match would be on national television with a large viewing audience, the TA made a decision to protest the team's action once again. They would not put forth a pre-match display or sing the National Anthem, while they would also remain silent for the first 33 minutes of the match in solidarity. Where this action took on a different track was that the Sounders' visiting supporters from the Emerald City Supporters and Gorilla FC agreed to the same terms as well, so both groups would go silent for the majority of the first half. The history between the groups has experienced several bumpy chapters over the years, but the fact that these groups of supporters all agreed to this action shows the seriousness and conviction behind this approach. The Seattle supporters haven't experienced anything as serious in actions taken by the Sounders organization that I could find, but the fact that they were willing to go all in with the Timbers Army was enough to show me that they considered the league actions objectionable.

Diego Chara was his very active self for all of the match per usual

I have to admit that I was slightly concerned when 30 minutes before the kickoff, the Sounders end was in full voice with drums and flags making a wall of noise, while the Timbers Army were just settling into their seats getting ready for the match. But after a very quiet anthem and no display to speak of, when Center Official Jair Marrufo blew the whistle, the Sounders end went quiet to match the Timbers section of supporters. For those that might be familiar with the crowds at a Portland Beavers baseball game or other events at the park, the noise level was definitely similar to that. For 33 minutes, people heard the voices of the players and coaches, a few one off attempts at a cheer for their side, and some good natured applause. Timbers matches are known for the raucous atmosphere and vibrant displays, but the entire North End went silent, and I'm sure the ESPN crowd wasn't sure what they had tuned into. Much like Atlanta, Portland put some pressure on early as Paredes tested Frei in the 10th minute from distance that he blocked, but it fell to Loria. Marvin put a shot on target, but Frei pushed it over the bar to earn a corner kick that generated a chance for the Timbers, but  Tuiloma rushed a header in the 11th minute just wide. The Sounders seemed content to let the Timbers run about until the 22nd minute when Morris sprinted down the left side with Valentin providing the mark. Unfortunately, Zarek committed the cardinal sin of defending in reaching his foot out to stop Morris, and the Seattle forward easily out maneuvered him to then get clear and put a cross from left to right. With Ruidiaz and Roldan near the goal relatively unmarked, the ball fell to Ruidiaz, but his shot was deflected away by Clark momentarily. However, Roldan was able to find the rebound and tap it into an open goal to give the Sounders a 1 to 0. However, the celebration was very subdued outside of a few claps and the near quiet returned to the crowd seconds later.

The teams traded back and forth runs for the next several minutes to no avail as the defenses were able to cover the threats, but the complexion of the match changed dramatically in the 34th minute when as agreed upon, the supporters groups' both broke into song and displays at the agreed upon time of 33:01 on the clock. The song Bella Ciao was an Italian anti-fascist song originated in 1933 at the height of World War II, and it bellowed through the entire park as flags, signs, streamers, banners and noise returned to the stadium. Several Iron Front flags were flying about within both sections, and it appeared that both teams fed off the renewed energy from the supporters. Valeri had a blocked shot in the 38th minute while Fernandez pushed a shot just off frame in first half stoppage as the score held to the 1 to 0 mark. Although Loria was having a decent match in terms of getting wide and creating chances, Savarese decided to sacrifice him at the half to bring on Ebobisse to give the Timbers a two forward attack with Ebo playing out wide while Fernandez would concentrate within the central area of the box. The change nearly paid dividends in the early moments of the half when Blanco found Ebobisse in the box on the right clear, but Frei was able to push the shot away at the last minute. Considering this was seconds into the second half, it appeared that the Timbers might be in good shape to make the match interesting.

Julio Cascante left the match due to injury

The optimism took a shot in the arm in the 47th minute when Morris beat Valentin in the 47th minute on a run very similar to his 22nd minute effort that yielded a goal. This time, Ruidiaz was the benefactor and he converted the cross to a goal as Cascante was late to cover him off the cross while Valentin again missed keeping Morris away from attacking with slow reactions. Suddenly, a one goal deficit was doubled, and the Timbers faithful were starting to see a familiar pattern. Unlike the Atlanta match, however, the Timbers were able to make it interested when Ebobisse was fouled just outside the box in the 53rd minute by Sounders midfielder Jordy Delem. Off the free kick, Valeri decided to put the effort on frame going to the right, but his shot hit Ruidiaz on the wall, and deflected the ball to the left of the goal. Frei was already heading to the right, and he was unable to adjust back to catch the shot before it struck the next, and just like that, Portland was able to pull back within a goal at 2 to 1. Two minutes later, the Timbers thought they might have the equalizer when Valeri challenged Frei from 20 yards out with a shot from distance, but Frei pushed it away to the left. Ebobisse found the rebound, and put a chip shot into the box where Paredes was able to put a shot on goal with a header but he pushed the shot wide.

Savarese continued to tinker in adding Tomas Conechny for Paredes to give more attacking options, but he added more fuel in the 79th minute when Cascante went down awkwardly trying to make a play and had to leave the match due to injury. Saverese chose to go with three defenders in the back and bring on Andy Polo to effectively put all of the Timbers' attackers out there to get a leveling goal, but the Cascante situation bears some concern here as it's another center back injury to the Timbers in an already thin area. Tuiloma is just coming back from injury while Mabiala is still recovering from his injury; with Modou Jadama out with a leg injury, the Timbers are effectively with 2 functioning center backs on the roster with Tuiloma and Claude Dielna. Portland thought they had leveled in the 81st minute when Valeri put a cross from right to left for Fernandez, and he easily slotted the ball past Frei to set off a crazed celebration in the North End, but replays show that Fernandez was slightly ahead of Seattle defender Saad Abdul-Salaam, but it was really, really, really close. Marrufo did consult with VAR official Edvin Jurisevic about the play, but the call on the pitch stood. While Blanco just missed on a header in the depths of stoppage time by mere inches and Polo put a wicked shot on Frei that caused some concern, the Timbers weren't able to get the equalizer when the final whistle blew.

Brian Fernandez thought he had pulled the Timbers even in the 81st minute.

The Sounders players fell to the turf in exhaustion and elation while their supporters gathered in the southwest corner with the Cascadia Cup in celebration that they would be keepers of the cup for another season. The Sounders had been conceding goals like crazy coming into this match, but their defense held together enough to yield just one goal on the night, and the points give them some much needed momentum. The Timbers, on the other hand, were left to sort through the wreckage of another home loss. There certainly are those heaping blame on the result on Marrufo and his crew, who missed a handball in the box in the 40th minute off Delem from a cross that Marrufo ruled his leg, but the replays show the ball struck the hand then the leg, and the decision on Fernandez was a really close call. The defense could certainly get some scrutiny as Valentin lost track of Morris on both goals in trying to mark, and Morris appeared to be struggling with a leg injury on and off for most of the evening, yet he was able to beat Zarek on multiple occasions. Cascante also was left exposed on a few runs, forcing Tuiloma to have to adjust and he wasn't able to make a few plays either, whether this was due to unfamiliarity with each other or just pressure from the Sounders. But for me, the biggest issue on the night was the Timbers' impatience on the offensive end. Saverese lamented the team wasn't very composed for most of the night on offense, especially considering the wealth of chances the team enjoyed, and I agree with the coach.

Some talk has been made that an easy adjustment could be to move Fernandez out to the wing, his more natural position, and move Ebobisse to the center to be more of the focal and distribution point. Fernandez was a huge success early as the lone striker in poaching for goals, but over the last few matches, he's struggled to find space to work in the middle and his best creativity from what we've seen in his previous stops was movement wide. That would put a ton of pressure on Ebobisse to be the true distributor and threat in the middle, but considering he's a taller, more physical forward, I'm actually thinking this is a needed adjustment. This should then allow Blanco and Valeri to do what they do best in wandering about on the pitch with the support of another winger if needed or just work within the four of them. Savarese will certainly have a lot of ponder before the team's next match when they host Real Salt Lake on August 31st in what could likely be RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando's last appearance in Portland, as he announced his retirement before the start of the 2019 season. Like Seattle, RSL has been lurking in the middle of the table in the West and while they don't have many of the dynamic options we've seen from them in previous seasons, they are not a team to overlook.

Portland wants this place as a fortress, but it's been tough this year.

The one group that I wouldn't think to blame for the results would be the supporters, who brought tons of energy and noise after their initial protest. Some didn't feel that way and voiced their frustration at the Timbers Army's decision to stay silent for a good portion of an extremely important  match with tons of implications. Many outlets have been covering the protest for several months, but the supporters' actions and subsequent response has given this story even more attention and it's being discussed in many social circles. If you followed the situation on Twitter, most folks on the #RCTID hashtag supported the protest and voiced approval, but on Facebook, the reaction was far more negative, as many fans wondered why the Army would do this during in a Cascadia Cup match. It doesn't take an ad wizard to know that putting a vocal protest against a rule or situation works much better with a wider audience, and what bigger stage could the supporters get than a national audience on ESPN in the only MLS match going at that broadcast window? The actions forced people to talk about the Iron Front symbol, the actions taken by the league and the teams, and what the supporters are protesting about. Even the players got into the situation with Valentin wearing an Iron Front symbol shirt before the match and afterwards during the team's media time, while Ebobisse had a Colin Kaepernick jersey on. The Sounders were also engaged as Frei saluted the Timbers Army after the match and gave an impassioned interview afterwards about his thoughts.

Perhaps the more disturbing angle of the negative comments though came from several who indicated how frustrated they were at the lack of atmosphere within the park, and it's expected for the stadium to be loud and boisterous for our team. Maybe those comments came from Russian bots, or the commenters don't realize that the capos leading songs and the drummers are volunteer positions; they pay for a game ticket just like everyone else and give their time freely to help organize the displays and songs. As a group, they all agreed to the protest action because as has been stated, the actions of the league go against everything the Iron Front symbol stands for. The three arrows are a response to messages of hatred in any form, and banning this symbol as political speech is incorrect. I'm not sure what will happen over the coming weeks, but with neither side seeming to want to budge, it seems the drama surrounding the Timbers will be ratcheted up as the calendar moves closer to the opening days of Fall. As I stated in my last post, I have always hoped the sides could find some common ground, but instead it appears there is some bunkering down on their respective positions. For me, the Timbers Army are doing the right thing and I applaud them for standing up against hate in any form.

Of Course It Had to End Like This: Timbers Survive Leg 2 Match Versus Sounders To Advance

David Guzman couldn't go for Portland due to injury, but Andres Flores filled in.

It's been a week since the Portland Timbers match versus the Seattle Sounders FC in the second leg of their conference semi-final, and I'm still shocked at how it finished, much less wrapping my head around the result. Considering the opponent, their fiercest U.S. rival to the north, pondering the purely insane events that have transpired between the Timbers and Sounders FC over the 40 plus years of meeting each other, and calculating the stakes of the match, it had to take various twists and turns before Dairon Asprilla's final kick of the match. It couldn't have ended any other way, starting with the Timbers having a 1 goal advantage from their leg 1 win at home on November 4. This situation meant that the Sounders FC would have to score at least 1 goal in leg 2 to win the series, as Seattle's lone tally in leg 1 gave them the advantage by getting a road goal (if the 2 matches ended up drawn, road goals would break the tie or send the teams to extra time). After a scoreless first half, the Sounders took the lead off a rebound in the box, but Asprilla found Sebastian Blanco in the 78th minute and Seba didn't disappoint to bring the score even. Seattle rushed the box in stoppage time to earn the draw, forcing extra time. In the extra session, Asprilla gave the visitors the lead but Seattle earned a penalty off a poor deflection and Nicolas Lodiero converted the effort to draw the match at 4. With no other goals but close chances, the extra time ended tied forcing penalties. In a scenario reminiscent of the 2015 Double Post match at Providence Park between the Timbers and Sporting Kansas City, the Timbers calmly and collectively made their kicks (albeit for one) while the Sounders FC had 2 kicks miss the mark. This was enough for the Timbers to advance to the MLS Western Conference Finals starting on November 25, where they will play Sporting Kansas City in a 2 leg series. Portland hosts the first match in the Rose City on the 25th to then travel to Kansas City for the second match on November 29th

Portland - Seattle matches have a contentious feel to them regardless of the situation or stakes, as we've witnessed in the 5 preceding meetings (1 preseason match, 3 regular season matches, 1 playoff match) between the rivals, but there was more tension heaped on the second leg due to certain circumstances. The match itself had to be moved up 3 days from the original kick date of November 11 due to a facilities conflict with the Sounders FC home pitch (The Seahawks had a home game on November 4 while an international car show was scheduled from November 9 - 11 on site), so it was slated for Thursday, November 8 which compressed the legs for both teams. While Seattle had to feel good about being within a goal and having the road goals advantage, they lost 2 key players in Chad Marshall and Cristian Roldan due to injuries in leg 1, and neither would be available for the return trip. Portland's offense had moments of pure brilliance in leg 1, but they had to feel slightly nervous getting just 2 goals at home despite having several great chances to add to their lead. Portland also had an injury issue of their own, as midfielder David Guzman was unavailable for leg 2 after knocking heads with Seattle's Gustav Svensson on a 1st half corner kick. Guzman left the match in the second half after feeling dizzy, but apparently his hamstrings had been giving him concern; David has been one of the consistent players down the stretch for the Timbers. Timbers Coach Gio Savarese had some decisions to make about replacing Guzman, but in true form, Gio made other adjustments to his side to see if they could secure the series win.

Lucas Melano was a late sub for Portland, and he was superlative

Savarese made 3 different adjustments to his starting eleven from leg 1. Jeff Attinella again started in goal with Steve Clark as his backup, but the defensive line got several adjustments. Larrys Mabiala, unavailable for leg 1 due to suspension, was back in the starting eleven alongside Liam Ridgewell with Jorge Villafana manning the left back spot. Instead of Zarek Valentin at right back, Savarese gave Alvas Powell the start with Valentin and leg 1 starter Bill Tuiloma on the bench. With Guzman out, Savarese gave Andres Flores the start in the midfield with Andy Polo and Diego Chara, with Blanco and Diego Valeri as the attacking mids and Jeremy Ebobisse as the lone striker. Savarese had Lawrence Olum, Lucas Melano, and Julio Cascante available as needed depending on the situation, but for the Timbers, the moves would likely be determined on the situation happening on the pitch at the time. Seattle kept things relatively straightforward as well, using most of the same players from their leg 1 starters, but replacing Roldan with Harrison Shipp and Roman Torres filling in for Marshall. Striker Raul Ruidiaz has been difficult for most defenses to deal with since he joined Seattle midseason in 2018, and so the Sounders had to feel confident in their chances offensively with Raul attacking and a rabid partisan crowd cheering them on. Despite it being a midweek match and no organized bus caravan transporting folks up north, there was a large traveling contingent of Timbers Army that made the trip to support their side and provide vocal, energetic support of their charges.

I haven't made a habit of going back to read my work at the previous site, but I admit that being there live, it was difficult to capture all of the competing emotions going on that Double Post night. Even watching a documentary film put together by MLS, while certainly impressively and thoughfully done, couldn't completely capture everything that I felt on that chilly evening back in October 2015. It's hard not to see complete parallels between the two matches despite the differing locations and participants - a first half of teams trying to figure out a master plan, a second half where a team takes an advantage only to see it countered rather quickly, and then a crazy extra time frame that led to penalties. I wouldn't say that Savarese's approach in the first 45 minutes was conservative, but it was in so much that both teams were still trying to build the chemistry and tempo needed to find a break, and with the stakes of the match essentially being a single goal, getting the first tally would be paramount. Yet when Ruidiaz knocked in a shot when Attinella had trouble handling a rebounding ball in the 68th minute, I still felt there were plenty of goals in the match. Sure enough, Asprilla replaces Polo in the 72nd minute and within 4 minutes, Dairon made a play for the ages in settling a cross from Villafana on the right side. His deft footwork settled the ball for Blanco, and Seba did the rest to level the score at 1 and put the Timbers within 12 minutes and stoppage time of advancing.

Ozzie Alonso did his usual best to disrupt the Timbers all evening.

Yet somehow I knew there would be more twists and turns to occur, and second half stoppage provided several fireworks. After Melano joined the match for Ebobisse just before stoppage, he made an impressive run off a counter with Valeri in control of the ball, and when the space opened up, all Lucas had to do was put it into the net to seal the Sounders' fate. But Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei made a spectacularly acrobatic save to stop the effort, and with the Timbers strung forward, Seattle was able to counter back and put the onus on the Timbers defense. The pressure eventually yielded when Ruidiaz got his second goal in the 3rd minute of stoppage, and suddenly, the event that didn't seem likely to happen - extra time - would indeed happen as the teams traded 2 to 1 scores in each venue. Yet Mabiala nearly made that point moot off a late corner kick where the center back put a header on target that Frei just saved in time. And because the match would now be extended, the lifeline of the away goal tiebreaker that Portland had held up until Ruidiaz's second was gone - the match would have to be determined by who scored more goals in the 30 minutes of extra time.

Extra time couldn't have started off better for Portland, as Valeri dribbled up the right flank and put a cross to the left post area where Asprilla was waiting. With little cover from the Sounders defense and Frei drifted off towards the left post, Dairon put a header into the right corner that put Portland up 4 to 3 as Asprilla executed a crazy back flip celebration followed by being mobbed by his teammates. Yet the emotions were tested again in the 97th minute off a cross into the Timbers box that struck Blanco's forearm in the melee, and Center Official Jair Marrufo pointed to the spot for a penalty. Yes, it was a very harsh call on Blanco, who appeared to be doing everything possible to avoid handling the ball, but the bouncing and location were enough to award the home side the penalty. When Sounders midfielder Nicolas Lodiero slotted it in past Attinella to even the score at 4 to 4, I had to wonder if there would be any other goals in the final 20 plus minutes of soccer. Both teams had some chances to attack the goal, but when the final whistle blew, it would be a series of penalties that would decided the series winner. Several of the Timbers weren't sure of this development as they were celebrating the result, thinking the 2 away goals would be enough to advance them - not realizing that MLS doesn't observe the away goal rule in extra time.

Diego Chara played all 120 minutes against the Sounders without a caution.

Penalties can be a cruel way to determine a winner, especially considering how random the results can be when professional soccer players take a shot without any defenders about except the goalkeeper. The exercise becomes one of inspiring enough confidence to take a shot that will challenge the keeper, yet also outguess the opposition in terms of direction and location to give the ball the best chance to score. After Melano and Ruidiaz traded made penalties, Valeri scored his to the left side, putting the onus on Sounders forward Will Bruin. Bruin chose to go left, but his shot went too far left and bounced off the post and out of play. When Blanco converted his, it was up to Sounders midfielder Ozzie Alonso to keep the score close, but his penalty went right and Attinella guessed that direction and pushed it wide right. Ridgewell had a chance to end the festivities at this point, but he chose to go left and Frei charged in that direction to deflect it wide. Sounders midfielder Handwalla Bwana still needed to make his kick to give Seattle a fighting chance, and when he converted it to put the score at 3 to 2, it fell upon Asprilla. Hit the kick, the Timbers advance, miss and the Sounders have a final chance to see if they can tie it up in the initial 5 penalties (best score after 5 wins, otherwise it's sudden death shootout). While Dairon did go in the middle and Frei got an arm to it, it wasn't enough resistance to stop the shot and the Timbers could celebrate victory on rival soil.

The celebrations about the advancement have continued throughout the subsequent days, and now Portland can recharge and recalibrate their approach with over 2 weeks between playoff legs. Sporting Kansas City did outlast upstart Real Salt Lake in their 2 leg semifinal, but the normally stout SKC defense had serious issues keeping RSL from scoring goals at points, showing a vulnerability that many haven't seen from this group much this year. Both offenses have to feel confident knowing the regular season meetings between the 2 teams didn't feature fully complete teams, and they have the ability to score goals in bunches. The key deciding factor in this series will fall upon the defense, as it will likely be won by whichever group can provide enough hurdles against the other side to stop them from scoring. The winner of this series will advance to play the winner of the Eastern Conference finals between Atlanta United and the New York Red Bulls, the top 2 points teams in the 2018 MLS Regular Season. The tasks don't get any easier this time of year, but seeing the passion and belief that I've seen from this Portland team, they are going to be an extremely difficult matchup for any of the remaining sides. Experts are predicting it will be SKC in the West with even odds between the Red Bulls and Atlanta advancing, but a lot can happen between now and that December 8 MLS Cup date.

Timbers Earn Playoff Advantage With Leg 1 Win Over Sounders At Home

Why yes, we are the only club that matters. Why do you ask?

Portland Timbers matches against the Seattle Sounders FC are never easy, nor are they for the casual fan of soccer. Nothing drove this point home more than walking into Providence Park 45 minutes before the scheduled kick in their Leg 1 match of the Western Conference semi-final, and both supporters sections were overflowing with noise and songs. Portland and Seattle were meeting for the 103rd time in their lengthy history, but only for the second time were the sides battling in the MLS postseason. The last time they met in the postseason was 2013, and the Timbers, playing in their first season under then-Coach Caleb Porter, knocked off the veteran laden Sounders by a 5 to 3 aggregate score. Playing in front of another raucous sellout crowd at Providence Park, the Sounders took an early lead playing the first 10 minutes of soccer with solid pace, physical play and precise passing as the Timbers struggled to counter. However, Portland found their footing and played perhaps their best sequence of soccer all year in the remainder of the first half, putting in two goals and effectively silencing the Sounders attack. The score would remain 2 to 1 Portland through a tense second half that saw both sides struggle to capture the same intensity and precision, but the effort was enough for the Timbers to take the early lead in the two match series. Focus now turns to November 8 in Seattle for Leg 2, as the Sounders know they need at least 1 goal to even the series; however, the fact the Sounders have a road goal gives them an advantage should the 2 match series end level on goals. Portland, however, has confidence in having 2 wins against their rival in 2018 including a big win in June at Century Link Field under dramatic circumstances.

In 2018, Seattle again fell into their usual pattern of struggles to start the season, but after losing to the Timbers in Seattle and being 11 points adrift from the playoffs, the Sounders rallied to advance all the way to the second seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Ironically, it was the loss to the Timbers in June that seemed to galvanize the Sounders into a long unbeaten streak through July, August and September. Portland, meanwhile has been relatively consistent outside of a lengthy unbeaten streak from April to August that helped propel them to success under first year Coach Gio Savarese. It hasn't been all fun and games for either side, though, as there have been injuries and player adjustments that have affected the overall attack for each group. The Sounders reeled off five consecutive wins to finish the 2018 regular season, and Coach Brian Schmetzer has been pleased with the attack of Raul Ruidiaz (joined midseason in June), Nicolas Lodiero, Will Bruin, Cristian Roldan and Victor Rodriguez. It's a credit to Schmetzer and his team to find ways to replace injured scorer Jordan Morris and retired striker Clint Dempsey, and Schmetzer was hoping that his team could continue their hot streak.

I didn't think Jeff Attinella touched Cristian Roldan on this play.

Schmetzer decided to keep things relatively simple for his side, starting Stefan Frei in goal with Nouhou Tolo, Kim Kee-Hee, Chad Marshall and Kelvin Leerdam in defense. With Ozzie Alonso and Gustav Svensson manning the defensive midfield, Seattle would rely upon the attacking trio of Roldan, Rodriguez and Lodiero as the midfielders with Ruidiaz as the lone striker. Portland has found success recently by returning to the 4 defender, 2 defensive midfielder, 3 attacking midfielder, and 1 striker formation and Savarese went with virtually the same lineup as was used in the 2 match series with Real Salt Lake in October. Jeff Attinella would again start in goal, having fully recovered from the shoulder injuries that shelved him late in the season, with Jorge Villafana, Liam Ridgewell, Bill Tuiloma and Zarek Valentin on defense with Larrys Mabiala unavailable after being ejected in the knockout round match against FC Dallas. With Diego Chara and David Guzman handling the defensive midfield duties, it would be up to Diego Valeri, Sebastian Blanco and Andy Polo as the attacking midfield and Jeremy Ebobisse as the striker to generate pressure on Frei. The recent battles between Chara and Alonso have been the stuff of legend with 2 of the very best defensive midfielders put on quite a show patrolling the middle, but with Chara on a caution from the FC Dallas match and 2 cautions triggering a suspension, a huge key for the Timbers would be to keep Chara from getting into any disciplinary trouble.

With Ted Unkel at the officiating controls, who has a reputation for being confident but unpredictable in his calls, the Sounders ramped up the pressure from the opening whistle as Lodiero and Alonso took turns executing fouls on Chara within the first few minutes. Ruidiaz was especially feisty and active with close misses in the 5th and 9th minute, while Roldan did his level best to cause trouble when he attacked the goal after the Ruidiaz miss in the 5th minute with Attinella charging to catch the spinning ball. There did appear to be light contact as Roldan went down awkwardly as Attinella tried to corrall the ball, but the shot spun out of play for a Seattle corner. VAR Official Allen Chapman contacted Unkel to have him review the contact using video replay, but even on the review, Unkel judged there was no foul on the play and the corner kick call would stand. Roldan would get some revenge in the 10th minute taking a ball from Rodriguez on the left with Tuiloma giving chase as Valentin was pulled in. Roldan was able to drop a cross into the box for Ruidiaz before Ridgewell could find the mark, and by that point, Raul had chipped the shot into the upper left corner of goal for an early 1 to 0 Sounders lead. With road goals being the first tiebreaker in the two match aggregate series should the teams finish the 2 match series tied in goals, this tally was huge for the visitors. It was a product of a very aggressive, deliberate attack plan and it looked to frustrate Portland as they couldn't find anything constructive to work from.

The Timbers youth showed very well in this match, especially Jeremy Ebobisse.

I'm not sure what flipped the switch for the Timbers, however, but since they are an extremely good club at the counter attack, they can put themselves back on track relatively quickly. In the 17th minute, Ridgewell corralled a 50/50 ball near midpitch and put a short pass over to Chara, who saw Valeri off to his left. The Maestro didn't keep the ball very long after receiving the pass, as Diego put a perfectly weighted ball to Ebobisse, who had made an expert run between Marshall and Kee-Hee in space and the offside flag stayed down as the youngster was first to the ball. Frei left his line to try and cover more space, but Ebobisse's shot was already away and tucked just inside the right post to level the score. On replay, the call was extremely close, but Unkel and his crew didn't make the call although VAR reviews every goal for accuracy and Chapman let the goal stand. After Ridgy missed with a header off a corner in the 23rd minute, Portland would take the lead in the 29th minute when Valeri broke down the middle off a turnover from Alonzo. With Kee-Hee and Marshall doing their best to stop Diego, the ball was deflected to Blanco, running on the left with Leerdam giving chase. Blanco settled it from right to left after a deflection, but created enough space and an angle to chip it past Frei into the same right corner for goal to put the Timbers up 2 to 1. The celebration within the stadium was so huge that the press box was shaking. The Timbers added more pressure with quality misses from Ebobisse in the 32nd, Guzman in the 33rd and 34th and a shot late by Polo in stoppage time, but the pressure kept Seattle slightly on their heels for the remainder of the half.

Another situation that added some hesistancy to the Seattle attack was the injury bug, as Roldan was unable to continue in the match after a few other bumps and was replaced in the 30th minute by Waylon Francis due to a groin injury. Seattle's issues grew bigger in the 40th minute when Marshall injured his knee taking a clearance, and he had to be stretchered off the pitch and replaced by Roman Torres. The Sounders nearly burned through all of their subs in the first half when during the seven minutes of stoppage time. Svensson and Guzman collided heads during a corner kick and both players spent several minutes on the pitch getting treatment. While they were able to return to their feet and finish the half, Guzman complained of dizziness after returning for the second half, and was eventually replaced by Lawrence Olum in the 50th minute. I thought Chara, Valeri and Blanco were the keys to the first half success for the Timbers, but it was Guzman and his 85 percent passing rate, stellar defense and good orgnaization that were the engine that fueled the 40 minutes plus of great soccer. I did wonder after the halftime break if the Timbers would be able to sustain the intensity and tempo they kept up in the first half, and Olum's entry unfortunately slowed down the entire attack. Thankfully for the Timbers, the Sounders were having their own issues on the offensive side.

With Larrys Mabiala unavailable, Bill Tuiloma stepped in and did very well.

Rodriguez got a gift in the 54th minute when an Olum backpass to Attinella with Ruidiaz chasing back went right to Lodiero instead of a Timber, but Victor's shot from the right off a pass was deflected away by Attienella for a corner. Lodiero and Ruidiaz had blocked shots in the 56th and 73rd minutes as the Timbers defense started to stiffen up for the stretch run, while Savarese made the call to replace Ebobisse with Lucas Melano in the final 15 minutes to see if his side could add a third to their scoreline. Valeri certainly gave it a run in the 76th minute from midpitch when Svensson gave him a bit of space, and the shot forced Frei to push it over the goal line for a corner kick. Portland thought they had added the magic third goal when Valeri played a pass to Villafana making a run, but the offside flag came up to stop the play despite Frei blocking Jorge's shot but missing out on Melano's rebound goal that was a thing of beauty. Blanco and Valeri executed a lovely one - two run that put Diego in the box with the ball, but he rushed his shot over the net and out of play. Rodriguez forced a save from Attinella in second half stoppage off a give and go of their own, but Jeff was up to the task to match the catch and keep the scoreline at 2 to 1 Timbers. Moments later, the final whistle blew and the fans could celebrate a hard fought victory.

The Timbers might be kicking themselves for not getting a third goal on the afternoon, but for stretches of the match, they simply dominated the pace and movement and Seattle couldn't match it. In a relatively baffling bit of news as well, the Timbers weren't cautioned at any point in the match so everyone is available; consider that the Sounders had targeted Chara with some early physical play, and Diego not only kept his composure and played his usual style for the entire match, he wasn't whistled for a foul at all. Portland effectively can advance to the conference finals with a win or draw in Seattle, and there are some scenarios where even a loss could advance them provided the Timbers score at least 1 goal on the road. Seattle has to feel good about the series not being too out of hand with just being down a goal and having a road goal to their credit for the series tiebreaker, but losing Roldan and Marshall to injury are key blows to an offense that needed some creativity at points. Roldan was the most effective winger for Seattle in his short stint, and there are questions if he can't go about who replaces this key playmaker for them. Suffice to say, the series is far from over and while both teams have positives to fall back on, there's enough question marks for each group to discourage a conservative approach to Thursday.

Liam Ridgewell shows frustration after the Sounders got their first goal.

For me, the first goal on Thursday changes the complexion for either side - Portland evens up the road tiebreaker for goals if they score first, forcing Seattle to play more aggresively, while a Seattle first goal gives them a serious advantage and reason to draw the game out. It would be difficult enough for injuries to heal given a week between the legs as originally scheduled, but due to a stadium conflict with a car show, Leg 2 is bumped up by 3 days to November 8 from November 11. The compression squeezes both sides greatly, but considering the key injuries for the Sounders, it will be intersting to see how they lineup. The winner will get an extended break (thank you MLS and your draconian playoff schedule) as they await the winner of Sporting Kansas City (1 seed) vs Real Salt Lake (6 seed) playing leg 2 on November 11. The lowest seed of the winners will host leg 1 on Sunday, November 25 with the return on Thursday, November 29; Real Salt Lake would host either Portland or Seattle if they advanced in leg 1, while Portland or Seattle would host leg 1 if it's Sporting that wins. The fact that it would potentially be 2 and a half weeks between competive soccer matches doesn't help anybody in this situation.

Hey, Everybody, It's a Clip Show Preview

I am always glad when this guy is eligible for matches with the Flounders

I can't remember the last time I got up early and watched soccer that didn't have teams I was interested in, but today ended up being the day. With my wife and mother-in-law currently at a bazaar selling hand made crafts, it's me and the kitties at home and the television has been squarely on the soccer. It's also been a bit since I posted anything here on the site, and there's been a lot of news and notes about the Timbers. In the style of some of my favorite television shows that want to put out an episode without having a clear theme or idea, I give you a clip show post. Part of this is due to being very busy in the non-soccer world, as my corporate job has been a bit of a roller coaster lately. I'm getting to the age in life I'm paying closer attention to my retirement accounts because I'm getting closer to the age of not working. This realization has really struck me in the day and age we live in with near constant corporate changes, and it's hard to feel secure at times. I've always lived with the theory that as long as I have a name plate on a cube and a place where my stuff lives during the work week, that's a good feeling. Lately, however, that's been severely challenged - but that is due to the times we live in.

• Hey, Tuesday is election day. It's weird now since I remember a time in Oregon where I actually had to go to polling places and cast a vote in person, but all that changed with Vote By Mail. It's a truly incredible feeling to be able to research issues and candidates, vote at your convenience, drop off the ballot at secure locations statewide, and get notified of your ballot status from creation to receipt. My civics teacher always said your vote is your voice, and I've always remembered that.
• After the Timbers qualified for the postseason with a huge win over Real Salt Lake in their home regular season finale, I had wondered about what the Timbers would do in their final match on the road in Vancouver, especially since the numbers indicated Portland was nearly locked into the knockout round matches (3 seed hosting 6 seed, 4 hosting 5). Gio Savarese chose the conservative approach with his lineup going you, and the Timbers ended up losing the last match - but it ended up actually working out better than anyone could have expected in the long run. Hindsight can be a bitch, but sometimes sticking with the gut is the right call. 

  

  It won't be as sunny as it was earlier this year, but there will still be bule.

• Portland ended up in the knockout round traveling to FC Dallas, a team that has traditionally had struggles late in most seasons. FCD could have avoided the knockout round completely, but they lost to Colorado, one of the worst teams in MLS this season, by conceding 2 late goals which put them in this situation. Many might not remember that just a few years ago, FCD was just moments away from pulling off a domestic competition championship trifecta - winning the Supporters' Shield, U.S. Open Cup and MLS Cup in the same season - until their offense went sideways against the Flounders. It was the year that FCD fans thought they had avoided the swoon, but the team has been searching for consistency since being bounced from the playoffs that year.
• Have you voted yet? It's really not that difficult. Seriously, I have written these words in the same time it took me to vote while researching some of the candidates. It's a simple investment into making our government work for us.
• Playing on a Halloween night in the Dallas suburbs, Portland came into the match facing some rather difficult odds - in the previous 20 knockout round matches, only 5 times had the road team came away victorious. It certainly didn't look good early when FCD Brad Ziegler tapped in a goal off a deflection after a set piece, but the officiating caught the fact Ziegler was offside on the pass. Eventually. I know many folks said this was a pretty obvious call, but I'm convinced the assistant was a step behind the line and shaded by Jorge Villafana and Carlos Gruezo on the play, and simply didn't see Ziegler and Dominique Badji way offside. Thankfully, VAR caught the error, but that doesn't excuse why the assistant was behind the play in the first place.

  

  Timbers, can we have lots of this happen, please?

• Portland turned in their own set piece magic courtesy of Diego Valeri in the 23rd minute, and I felt the momentum had really shifted from the home side. FC Dallas had to feel frustrated being just minutes from safety from the knockout round to now being behind a goal after one was disallowed. FCD certainly had chances as Michael Barrios spent most of the match running past everyone, but his shooting accuracy wasn't that consistent (as was most of his team).
• The Timbers then put themselves in a hole when Larrys Mabiala was correctly ejected for pulling Badji down on a breakaway as the last defender when a pass sprung the speedy striker. Mabiala was beaten, and it was absolutely the right call, but Portland not only overcame the situation, but added a second goal when midfielder David Guzman put a pass to striker Jeremy Ebobisse on the counter. The youngster showed great composure to settle the ball with players moving about him, find Valeri coming in support and dropping a well timed pass, and let Diego do the rest. Valeri slammed it into goal, and the Timbers had a 2 goal lead.
• I'm a little tired of the political ads, but honestly, it is the price of our democracy to allow candidates to put out their messages. I'm not sure how they come up with some of these names of who is responsible for these ads, but thankfully the Oregon Elections Manual is really good at giving background information on the candidates and measures in a measured, balanced way.
• FC Dallas did make things interesting late after throwing numbers forward, but I thought Portland had played a well composed match even with playing 10 players. FC Dallas really hadn't shown anything until very late, and after absorbing that much pressure for that many minutes, I'm not surprised FCD broke through. But Portland rode out the storm to play another day, which ended up being the theme of the knockout round - 3 of the 4 knockout round matches in the 2018 MLS Playoffs were won by the road side, the lower seeded team. 

  

  Portland will need everyone to contribute in the playoffs, including these two.

• Of course, it would be the Flounders. There is a point in every MLS season where the US based Cascadia rivals collide in a meaningful match outside of regular season action, but the soccer gods kept everyone from a Timbers - Sounders match in U.S. Open Cup play when the Sounders were eliminated in Round 3 by the Sacramento Republic. Seattle made the choice in the final weekend to play their strongest side against San Jose at home, and while the Earthquakes made it interesting late, Seattle ended up qualifying for one of the byes and avoiding the knockout round as LAFC and FC Dallas lost their respective matches. But with Real Salt Lake upsetting LAFC in the knockout round, the Western Conference semifinals turned into rivalry week redone as the Timbers would be paired with Seattle as Sporting Kansas City would battle Real Salt Lake in the other side.
• None of the Western Conference teams really like the other sides, but if there was a pairing to rival Timbers - Sounders, it is SKC and Real Salt Lake. Their last match involved multiple ejections and several player confrontations, and I expect nothing less in this matchup. RSL have to be thanking their lucky stars, considering they didn't have a match in the final weekend of the regular season, and the Los Angeles Galaxy had a chance to knock them out by beating Houston in the final weekend at home. The Galaxy went up early, but the Dynamo charged back late to not only spoil the party for the Galaxy fans, but send RSL into the playoffs. 

  

  I expect SEA to focus on the Diegos, so Seba could have a huge series. 

• A meeting with the Flounders always has some contention to it regardless of the date and time, but this playoff battle has several issues with it even before the matches have started. Portland doesn't have Mabiala available due to the ejection in the knockout round, plus Liam Ridgewell and Diego Chara are one caution away from a suspension in the playoffs due to playoff discipline rules (players can only receive 2 cautions between knockout round matches and the MLS Cup if they qualify). Having a solid defensive line is paramount for the Timbers to be successful, but as we all know, Chara's presence is nearly required for Portland to do well at any capacity. I'm fully expecting the Sounders to go right at Chara to see if they can disqualify him with the caution. Another key issue is the date of leg 2, as the Sounders' home pitch isn't available on November 11 due to a car show, so the match is actually being moved up to November 8 on Thursday. So the Timbers get 3 matches in 8 days, including 2 against one of their fiercest rivals. If they overcome this, it will be a huge confidence boost but it will only be due to a total team effort and making smart lineup choices.
• Seriously, voting is really important. I get that might seem inconvenient, but the politicians should be working for the people and our vote is the voice that gives them direction. I'm not naïve enough to discount the corporate forces that influence politics right now, and many of them want the status quo to remain. However, that reality means more of the same that we've seen for the past 2 years since our last presidential election, and I, for one, want no part of that. We need true change, and many of the people on the ballots now are the instruments of that change, and they need our support.
• I tried to get the cats to do predictions for tomorrow's match with the Flounders, but out of respect for our black cat, Moya, who we lost earlier this year to an unexpected illness, they want to wait until next season for doing their pieces. GB, however, was very excited about the Timbers' chances with a series of headbutts and purrs. He correctly predicted that Portland and Seattle would get the 2:30 PM time slot on November 4, and so I'm inclined to go with his gut on this.

Timbers' Losing Streak Reaches Four As They Can't Overcome Own Goal In Loss to Sounders

It was the only goal of the match & a very unfortunate error for Julio Cascante

It was more fun watching the Portland Timbers run circles about the best in Major League Soccer, and for 15 matches in 2018, the Timbers were in a class all by themselves due to their lengthy unbeaten streak. Good things do come to an end as just 2 weeks ago, the Vancouver Whitecaps put an end to the run with a dramatic 2 to 1 win in Portland where the Caps pushed Portland about with a physical strategy and superior organization. My wife, Jennifer, said after that result, she thought there might be an extended string of defeats until the Timbers could figure it out again; I had hoped against anything that the effort against Vancouver was more of a one off that the new standard as the team embarked on a long road trip to Washington D.C. and Kanas City. Unfortunately, the Timbers woes followed them on consecutive losses to D.C. United by a 4 to 1 tally and to Sporting Kansas City by a 3 to 0 result, but hope sprung eternal that Portland might get it figured out against one of their most heated rivals. With the Seattle Sounders FC visiting and enjoying a long unbeaten streak of their own of 9 unbeaten with 6 consecutive wins, the Timbers were hoping home cooking and a revived approach would be the elixir to cure their ails. While the defense was much improved after conceding 7 goals in two matches, the offense couldn't find anything to get past Sounders FC goalkeeper Stefan Frei. In the end, the only goal of the night was an odd deflection off Timbers center back Julio Cascante that slid past a startled Attinella, and that was enough for the Sounders FC to achieve a 1 to 0 victory in Portland in front of another sellout crowd.

The result not only extended the Sounders' unbeaten run, but it vaulted them to fifth place in the West and into the playoffs. For the Timbers, it was their third home loss of 2018 and second consecutive defeat at Providence Park, which pushed them below the drop line into seventh place. After a considerable flurry of points following the tough start to 2018, Timbers Coach Gio Savarese and his team could do little wrong in vaulting into the discussion of championship contenders for MLS Cup 2018. However, the fourth consecutive defeat has opened up serious questions about the side, especially considering that while Portland posted several impressive offensive statistics against the Sounders such as total shots (22 vs 6), open play crosses (25 to 11) and possession time (55 percent to 45 percent), they failed to generate a single goal much less a dangerous shot that Frei had to deal with. Since Samuel Armenteros' goal versus D.C. United in the first half, the Timbers have conceded 8 goals since then leading to the three losses, but in this match, the defense wasn't the issue despite conceding the own goal. As much as the Timbers' playmakers of Diego Valeri, Armenteros, Sebastian Blanco, Andy Polo and Diego Chara could put crosses and diagonal passes in dangerous spaces for their teammates, the ball movement failed to generate any threats to the Seattle defense that they couldn't handle. For the Timbers, this crisis couldn't come at a worse time considering the team hosts Toronto FC midweek on August 29 before making a cross country venture to Boston on September 1st to play the New England Revolution.

Sebastian Blanco & Ozzie Alonso battled a lot on this afternoon.

Savarese unveiled a 3 defender, 5 midfielder, 2 forward hybrid formation that produced a good half of soccer against Houston and had mostly good moments in the Timbers' last win against Philadelphia back on August 4, but the plan failed to produce much pressure against the Whitecaps until a furious second half rally that the Caps outlasted. Changing up the plan again in D.C. and SKC failed to produce any dividends, and Gio decided to go back to the drawing board against the Sounders in resurrecting the team's most successful formation - the tree, also known as 4 defenders, 3 defensive midfielders, 2 attacking midfielders and a lone striker. This grouping was used during the Timbers' unbeaten streak, and it seemed to produce the best balance between stout, viable, organized defense and free flowing, creative offense. Due to player availability, Savarese again had to tweak the overall choices in the starting 11 and overall game day roster, which has perhaps led to some of the uncertain play that has plagued the team in the past few weeks.

With Jake Gleeson out after tibia surgery and Kendall McIntosh off with Timbers 2, Portland again turned to Jeff Attinella as the starting goalkeeper with newly signed Steve Clark listed as his backup. With Larrys Mabiala having played every available minute in 2018 until he was pulled in the loss to SKC, Savarese again changed up the backline giving Liam Ridgewell the start alongside Julio Cascante with Alvas Powell and Zarek Valentin flanking them on the right and left side respectively. Ridgewell hadn't appeared for the Timbers since leaving the May 2 home match versus LAFC with an injury, and there have been plenty of rumors circling about his status with the team long term and current fate with playing time. In the defensive midfield trio. Savarese started stalwart Diego Chara alongside Lawrence Olum and Andy Polo, with Olum more tasked with staying home in the middle and allowing Polo and Chara to circle about and attack. With Diego Valeri and Sebastian Blanco set as the attacking mids and Samuel Armenteros as the lone striker, Savarese had his best trio of creative players set up for the attack. Savarese had several options off the bench with Bill Tuiloma, Andres Flores, David Guzman, Cristhian Paredes, Marco Farfan and Dairon Asprilla to augment the side, but there were question of where would goals come from the subs if needed with just Asprilla being a true attacking option.

Kim Kee-Hee and Chad Marshall have been a very good center back pair.

The Sounders have spent most of 2018 seriously adrift due to various injuries and personnel issues, but just as the calendar switches to the later months of summer before back to school, the Sounders have started to find their form with an improved defense and some intriguing additions to their side. Coach Brian Schmetzer had been under fire earlier this year for the troubles, but since the team has reeled off their own unbeaten streak, the pressure has suddenly lifted away in all the fuss. Frei has arguably been one of the best goalkeepers in MLS all year, but center backs Chad Marshall and Kim Kee-Hee have formed a solid partnership along the backline and newly signed fullback Brad Smith has provided depth for them in a troubled area. With supreme annoyance Ozzie Alonso holding down the middle, Seattle uses a varied attack with Nicolas Lodiero, Harry Shipp, Will Bruin, Cristian Roldan, Will Bruin and recently added Raul Ruidiaz to generate offense due to the loss of Jordan Morris for injury. When the plan works, the Sounders can play attractive, albeit annoying soccer with Alonso and Gustav Svensson wreaking havoc in the middle, especially knowing the defense will remain organized and the offense will provide chances while relieving pressure on the counter.

The Timbers generated a huge advantage in the first half with 14 registered shots and several crosses and passes that created space, but upon reviewing the list of efforts, the only one that registered of any significance was a Cascante header in the 9th minute off a corner kick from Valeri. Several shots were blocked - 7 of the 14 were fully blocked - but on several chances, the pass or effort was either rushed, just off target or intercepted. The Timbers were repeatedly trying to spring Valeri, Blanco or Armenteros up the middle, but Seattle had the middle packed full of bodies. While Polo and Powell provided some interesting width options that did work, the Sounders allowed the use of space and marked up their defense for the crosses, and they were usually able to deflect the shot away. While Seattle didn't generate anything dangerous against the Timbers defense, the tenor of their press did result in one issue for Portland in the 22nd minute when Chara received a caution for a retaliatory foul on Shipp. Chara was the target of several early bumps and jostles, and in this play, Center Official Chris Penso caught Chara coming in late from behind with a slide tackle. Neither side could find the elusive first goal, which I give credit to two very organized defenses for providing good resistance. However, for me, the Timbers' problems were also being compounded by some impatience in the passing and movement on offense trying to be too precise instead of taking the first good chance to shoot or attack the goal.

Samuel Armenteros battles Cristian Roldan for the ball

Both teams chose to stay with their starters into the second half, and Portland again ramped up the pressure as Valeri chose to challenge Frei with a distance shot from the right flank that Frei was late to react to. Instead of catching it, Frei spilled the ball into play, but Seattle was able to clear it and concede a corner kick that was eventually cleared. The back and forth battling continued until the Timbers had perhaps their best run of sequence in the 70th minute off consecutive corner kicks. Under sustained duress. Cascante, Ridgewell and Valentin all had good looks at the goal off the pass, but it was Armenteros with the best of them all with a header off a Valentin cross that just flew over the cross bar. Valentin pulled off one of the best shake and bake moves to leave a Sounders defender flat footed, but Armenteros' header was just off the target. Roldan had challenged Attinella with a shot in the 47th minute off a shot in traffic after a Polo turnover, but the Sounders nearly broke the scoring open when Shipp pulled a shot wide left off a bang bang sequence that left the Sounders midfielder in space in the box with no marking. As the match wore on, it began to appear that perhaps one goal was going to be enough to separate the teams, especially with both defenses providing such stellar cover.

That moment came in the 76th minute with Roldan holding the ball on the right with Polo, Olum and Valentin all nearby with Kee-Hee making a run along the touchline without a mark. The pass was made into space with Ridgewell now the only defender nearby and Liam chose to stay in the box and not attack the player, thus giving Kee-Hee the space he needed to run into the box. Kee-Hee tried to make a cross to the left post where Ruidiaz was waiting, but the ball instead struck Cascante in the plant foot as Julio made an awkward attempt to clear the ball. Instead of a clearance, the ball trickled just inside the left post as an own goal setting off a wild celebration for the visitors and reducing Cascante to near tears at the error. Cascante was called upon in the ensuing sequence to make a few more tough clearances and tackles, but with the Timbers needing a goal, Savarese brought on Flores and Asprilla for Polo and Blanco. The updates produced a couple of blocked shots and a late miss from Powell, while Ruidiaz nearly added another goal for the visitors off a late cross with a bicycle kick. But all the rushed shots and passes proved to be in vain as the final whistle blew and the Sounders could celebrate the victory gained on rival soil.

Everywhere Diego Valeri went, so did a white shirt. Or three. 

Seattle now finds themselves above the playoff line in front of a home date with Sporting Kansas City this weekend, then a long break until their next match in mid September. Portland, meanwhile, gets the re-surging Toronto FC midweek before making the cross country flight to New England to then return home to play Colorado on September 8. Portland then gets another three match week to bring their games played more even with road dates in Houston on September 15 and Minnesota on September 22 surrounding a home match with the Columbus Crew on September 19. It's a difficult stretch of matches for the Timbers, who now find themselves trying to answer more questions after another difficult loss at home. After being nearly invincible over a long stretch where the team was able to address most every challenge with a response, the Timbers now find themselves looking for anything to help them find some confidence.

As much as I'm an advocate for midseason trades and moves, especially under the excitement of bringing in quality talent like Jorge Villafana and Lucas Melano, it's obvious that the team chemistry has been off since Fanendo Adi and Vytas were traded in separate moves. Cohesiveness is such an important part of any team, and losing a contributing element and a very liked role player appears to have caused some static. I also feel that as good as Blanco, Valeri and Armenteros have been on separate occasions this year, they are all pressing under the weight of the losing streak. When the results are coming and everything is synced up, soccer is a very easy sport to play, but when it's off-kilter for any reason, the answers to fix it aren't always easy. I trust that Savarese knows the true health mentally and physically of his charges, and has some good ideas to try and right the ship, but as I've stated, sometimes that's not easy to execute. He's tried a few different ideas that haven't worked, but I do truly believe the Timbers have the talent and heart to fix this. I just hope they can get it sorted out before they lose too much ground in a suddenly tightening Western Conference playoff race.

Blanco Leads Timbers To Dramatic 1 to 0 Win Over Seattle Sounders FC

Jeff Attinella gets ready for a shot on goal.

Rivalry matches often defy convention because they don't require stakes or consequences for the participants. Current records, streaks, form, injury status - none of that matters when a club faces their most fierce and despised opponent, and it's because of that where the derby matches take on a complexion of their own. For the Portland Timbers, they had played some of their best soccer in 2018 to date leading up to hosting their arch rival from Washington, the Seattle Sounders FC. In an odd twist, the teams would be meeting on May 13, 2018 for the 100th time throughout various leagues and competitions and there was plenty of fanfare associated with the rivalry hitting the century mark. However, because of the unbalance schedule for MLS in 2018 when Los Angeles Football Club joined, this match would have no bearing on the 2018 Cascadia Cup race. While the opposing supporters were certainly giving it their best, the combatants in the match struggled to find anything that would work consistently until the home side finally broke free with a late goal from Sebastian Blanco. This led to a wild, intense finish but Blanco's 85th minute tally would end up being the only goal of the day as the Timbers secured a 1 to 0 win for their 3rd consecutive shut out win. Portland had last accomplished the 3 shutout wins in a row back in 2007, so it had been a while; but it's very apparent the defense has started to find their confidence through this stretch.

Just over a month ago, Portland lost in Orlando City when the home side scored 3 goals in the final 10 minutes to steal a victory, but since that dramatic result, the Timbers have won 4 in a row starting with a gut check win against Minnesota United to start their home slate of matches. Timbers Coach Gio Savarese has made some dramatic changes in the lineup since that win by bringing in goalkeeper Jeff Attinella and defender Liam Ridgewell for the match against New York, and mixing up the attacking philosophy. The tactics since this changeover have resulted in 3 wins by shutout with 5 total goals highlighted by an improving defense and an opportunistic offense. Attinella and Ridgewell would again get the call to start against Seattle in defense alongside compatriots Larrys Mabiala, Alvas Powell and Zarek Valentin. Savarese would change up the attack by going with the Christmas Tree formation of 3 central midfielders, 2 attacking midfielders and a lone striker. To that end, it was Diego Chara, Cristhian Paredes and Andy Polo playing defense mids, Blanco and Diego Valeri slotted as attacking mids and Fanendo Adi as the forward. In this approach, it would be imperative to see Polo, Valentin and Powell get forward as much as possible to help the offense, but they would need to drop back quickly if a counter attack arose. Considering this approach worked so well versus NYCFC, it seemed like a good move to bring it back for another run against an extremely depleted Sounders side.

Zarek Valentin leaps to head the ball in first half action

Seattle had drawn against Columbus at home on May 6 in a scoreless snooze fest before playing their first MLS midweek match in Toronto FC against the defending champions. They shocked many experts by beating TFC 2 to 1 before heading back to the Pacific Northwest to play their rivals to the South. Sounders FC Coach Brian Schmetzer would have to dig deep on his bench to find a lineup with six key players - Will Bruin, Waylon Francis, Nicolas Lodiero, Jordan Morris, Roman Torres and Victor Rodriguez - unavailable, and his tasks got worse when it was discovered that Osvaldo Alonzo would not be ready to play either. Seattle still had Stefan Frei in goal, who has been solid at times, Chad Marshall, the steady and insightful defender, and Cristian Roldan, who has quietly become a solid playmaking force. The mercurial one, Clint Dempsey, was also healthy and available, and the Sounders have brought in Roldan's brother, Alex, who has provided some good depth as well. Schmetzer did employ what attacking options he had available in his starting line up with Dempsey, the Roldans and forward Jordy Delem, but the approach would be to leave midfielders Gunnar Svensson and Mangus Eikrem at home in the middle. When attacking, defenders Kelvin Leerdam and Nouhou Tolo would move forward as much as possible, but in defense, they would drop back and bunker in front of Frei. It was very much a "park the bus" approach, but considering Seattle had played midweek already,  you could understand a more conservative approach.

And despite being the 100th such meeting of the sides, there were really no stakes to play for outside of pride. MLS has been following an unbalanced schedule for several years and 2018 was no exception, but in this year, the unbalanced impacted the Cascadia Cup. While the Timbers and Sounders would play each other 3 times in the regular season, the Sounders and Timbers only play the Vancouver Whitecaps 2 times in 2018 - thus throwing off the balance. The Cascadia Cup Council made up of representatives of the varied supporters groups (Timbers Army, Southsiders, Emerald City Supporters/Gorilla FC to name a few) decided to only count the last 2 Timbers-Sounders meetings, so this result would not affect the status of the Cup. For the current holders of said cup, the Timbers Army, this meant having to wait for June 30th when the Timbers travel north to start officially defending their honor. But as previously mentioned, rivalries don't depend so much on stakes and that was apparent in arriving to the match 2 hours ahead of kick to find both supporters groups already stuck in song and getting ready for the later events.

After a slow start, the physicality picked up greatly in this match.

For all the intensity, however, the teams really started out very slow and cautious during the first half. For the Sounders, they had 2 near misses from Tolo and their best chance of the first 45 was a drop pass from A. Roldan to the feet of a charging Dempsey at the top of the box in the 44th minute with space to work. Number 2 pulled his shot way wide of the right post attacking the South Deck, but that was essentially the most credible threat. For the Timbers, Valeri, Blanco and Adi had good chances - Adi was just offside in the 15th minute by half a step clear on goal, and his 32nd minute shot off a cross was pulled clear - and Polo was creating lots of space for himself, but the most notable events involved tackles. In the 34th minute, Delem slammed into Valeri's leg from behind on a late tackle to earn the game's first caution, but Center Official Robert Sibiga left the call at yellow despite the force of the tackle and coming from behind. The intensity of the match picked up from there as Blanco was nearly booked in the 36th minute for a hard foul on A. Roldan and Ridgewell earned a booking for a cynical foul on a breakaway in the 44th minute that was considerably forceful and could have earned a harsher penalty. Sibiga didn't interact with VAR in any of these instances, but it was very apparent the teams were starting to find their chippy side.

Seattle's conservative strategy continued after the break as the visitors logged just 2 shots in the second half with nothing official after the 63rd minute. Tolo's shot in the 48th minute forced Attinella to make a quality catch in traffic, but outside of that, the offense in the second half belonged to Portland. Valeri and Adi worked a lovely one-two drop pass near the box that put Diego free on goal in the 59th minute, but Svensson was able to deflect the shot away at the very last moment with Frei out of position. Polo and Valentin worked to create space in the 68th minute with Polo putting a curling shot towards Frei that forced a save from the Sounders keeper, but with the minutes ticking away, it appeared that the Sounders might steal a point as the Timbers couldn't find a goal. Mabiala missed a header in the 84th minute off a corner kick that looked like the last real chance of the day until substitute Samuel Armenteros created the game winning goal. Armenteros entered for Adi in the 79th minute and tried to earn a penalty in the 80th minute when Chara put a pass to Samuel to the top of the box with Marshall nearby. The Seattle centerback and Armenteros collided accidentally going for the ball in the box, and while there were calls for a penalty, Sibiga waived them off.

This is comical. Yet very scary at the same time.

Armenteros and Blanco found their space in the 86th minute when Samuel captured the ball in traffic near the top of the box with 3 defenders and Blanco nearby. In a wonderful execution, Armenteros dropped a pass to Blanco in time and onside with the defenders slow to react, and by the time Sebastian found the ball, he was alone on goal with just Frei to stop him. A deft spinning shot to the left post was created by Blanco, and Frei was helpless to watch the ball spin just inside the post for the goal. The match then went into overdrive with the Sounders throwing players forward, and with an injury to defender Kim Kee-Hee in the second half, the Timbers had to navigate through 6 minutes of called stoppage time and a VAR review of a foul on Blanco when he took out Delem with a deft shoulder to shoulder bump. Sibiga didn't discipline Blanco any more than the yellow, but with stoppage time hitting nearly 10 minutes before it was finally done, the Timbers could breath a sigh of relief to post the victory. The post match celebration saw Blanco put on a mask of Chucky, the character from the Child's Play series of movies, to receive his log slice, but we also learned that this was Blanco's nickname from his playing days in Argentina.

Portland won't get that much rest as they continue their home stand on Saturday, May 19 in hosting LAFC before they travel to Colorado to play the Rapids on May 26. Portland then gets another back to back home matches as the Galaxy visit Providence Park on Saturday, June 2 followed by a visit from Sporting Kansas City on June 9. The Timbers then get a break for most of June for World Cup 2018 before they make a tough road trip to Atlanta on June 24 and the Seattle match on June 30th. There is also U.S. Open Cup matches forthcoming, as rumors put the Timbers' opening match for the annual competition sometime in mid June as well. But for now, the supporters and the cats can celebrate a hard fought victory against the invaders from the North.