—by Chris Rifer

Progress is often incremental, but it’s progress all the same. On Saturday the Portland Timbers channeled the 2011 Timbers by scoring two goals off set pieces on their way to a 2-1 win over the Chicago Fire.

The Timbers stopped their offensive goalless drought after 447 minutes when Eric Brunner slammed home a Kris Boyd volley in the 20^th minute to open the scoring.

Portland almost started the party in the fourth minute, however, as Kris Boyd put his head on the ball over two Fire defenders, but Sean Johnson made an acrobatic save to keep things level.

In the 9^th minute, Rodney Wallace slid a shot from the left wing across the face of goal, but it dribbled wide of the far post without a Timber sitting there to tap it home.

Brunner’s 20^th minute opener, however, rewarded the Timbers for their dominance over the course of the match’s first trimester.

As the half wore on, however, Chicago found their front foot. In the 36^th minute, after Troy Perkins conceded a corner by spilling a shot, the Timbers’ keeper erased his own mistake by making a phenomenal diving save to deny Pavel Pardo the equalizer.

On the ensuing corner, Perkins’ gloves would again betray him as he spilled a rocket from Marco Pappa, but he deflected the ball enough to allow Eric Brunner to clear the danger.

Four minutes later there would be no such clearance. After Steven Smith gathered the ball near the corner flag, he cleared it toward the center of the pitch rather than send the ball out. The only player there to receive the clearance was Pappa, who found Jalil Anibaba in the box to slot past Perkins for the equalizer.

The Timbers had one more nervous moment in the 43^rd minute when Dan Gargan found Pardo all alone in the box, but Pardo did a poor job of adjusting to the cross and sent his header well high and wide.

Coming out of halftime level, the Timbers wasted little time in separating themselves for good.  In the 47^th minute Wallace found Brunner lurking in the box again off a set piece, but the Dubliner couldn’t get square and sent his header wide.

There would be nothing wide about the Timbers’ next set piece. Five minutes later halftime substitute Sal Zizzo sent a corner in from the Timbers’ left side. Kris Boyd got head to it and sent the ball toward the far post. It would never get there. Instead Fire midfielder Logan Pause put the goal-bound header[1] out of its misery by knocking it home himself.

From there Chicago had to chase the game. The Fire’s only real chance came in the 62^nd minute, as Gonzalo Segares’ shot from inside the box deflected just wide of the far post.

The rest of the way the Timbers would put on a clinic in closing out a match. In controlling the midfield and sustaining pressure, the Timbers kept Chicago from ever seriously threatening to once again pull level and steal a point.

Ultimately it was a deserved three points for Portland, and the Timbers have now taken eight points out of the last 15. It wasn’t always pretty, and both goals came from set pieces, but the Timbers put their scoreless streak to bed and may have turned a corner in their effort to get back in the playoff picture.

Match Observations

• The Timbers’ win sets up a huge match against Vancouver on Saturday. With a win, the Timbers would pull themselves to 15 points, having taken 11 of the last 18 heading into their long May to June break. Portland would be within three points of a playoff spot with time to get healthy and gel for a summer run. All of this is contingent, however, on Saturday’s first Cascadian installment for the Timbers.
• Vancouver has a bit of a week in front of them before they get to Portland. They fly to Toronto for a huge Wednesday ACC Final fixture, where they go on the road tied 1-1. With a CCL berth on the line, it seems likely the Caps will play starters a full 90. Presumably, then, they will fly directly to Portland for Saturday’s Cascadia Cup matchup—affording little time for recovery. Simply put, Saturday sets up nicely for Portland.
• I was baffled at Frank Klopas’ decision to bring Dom Oduro off in the 60^th minute. While Oduro hadn’t put his mark on the match on the ball, his pace and aggressiveness getting forward was a huge bother to the Timbers’ backline. After he came off, Portland was able to sit back a little more comfortably, which cut off much of the Fire’s attacking oxygen.
• John Spencer’s substitutions, on the other hand, were both spot on. Sal Zizzo again provided some life to the Timbers’ attack in place of the disappointing Franck Songo’o, and Jorge Perlaza was a great late sub to pin Chicago’s backline in their defensive third. Spencer has alternated between looking like a genius and a lunatic this season. On Saturday he was the former.

Timbers Grades

Troy Perkins, 5 An up-and-down night for Troy. Battled a case of the dropsies,[2] but cleaned up his own mess in brilliant fashion.

Steven Smith, 4.5 Again, a tale of two halves for Smith. Looked dodgy in the first stanza, highlighted, of course, by his poor clearance that led to the Fire’s goal. Had some pretty handy defending in the second half, though, to salvage his grade.

Eric Brunner, 6.5 One of the Timbers’ most dangerous attackers on Sunday, and also put in a useful shift defensively. Portland has choices at center back, and that’s awfully nice.

Hanyer Mosquera, 6 The center of the defense was quiet again. Chicago’s best chances either came off the break or from the wings. Can’t blame the big fellas for either of those things.

Mike Chabala, 3.5 His best play of the night was when he shoved Patrick Nyarko and—if memory serves me correctly—Pavel Pardo at the same time. Otherwise, he looked every bit as out of position as he was.

Rodney Wallace, 6 Rod had a 15 or 20 minute stretch in the second half where he looked as good as I have seen him in a Timbers uniform. Nice shift on the whole for Rod.

Lovel Palmer, 5 Solid, if unspectacular, work for Lovel in central midfield tonight. Doesn’t provide much of anything going forward. Off the ball he is pretty good in finding positioning as a central midfielder. The problems begin, though, with the ball at his feet.

Diego Chara, 6.5 Another very good outing for Chara, as he had spells of terrorizing Chicago’s midfield. It’s no coincidence that the Timbers’ form is improving just as Diego seems to be hitting his stride.

Franck Songo’o, 4 Unless his form improves, Franck is living on borrowed time. With Kalif Alhassan looking poised to return and Sal Zizzo impressing as he gains fitness, Franck probably only has one more shot to show why he should be the first choice on the wing.

Darlington Nagbe, 4.5 Struggled to have much influence at all on the match. Had some decent moments when he tracked back into the midfield, and was robbed of a tap-in goal by Logan Pause’s own goal, but was otherwise pretty quiet.

Kris Boyd, 7 You know who wasn’t quiet? Kris Boyd. What did both goals have in common? Kris Boyd. Much more active than Tuesday, and it paid off in major ways for Portland.

Sal Zizzo, 6 If his form right now is any indication, this could be a breakout season for Sal. Was once again very dangerous on the right side, and had a couple nice corner kicks as well.

Jorge Perlaza, 5 Perlaza’s presence did more than Perlaza himself did. Bringing on his pace made Chicago respect the Timbers’ attack a little bit more and prevented the Fire from committing too many numbers forward. Good substitution.

Preseason Prediction: Timbers 3, Fire 0. Boyd, Alhassan, and Perlaza.

Actual Result: Timbers 2, Fire 1. Brunner, Pause (OG).

Onward, Rose City!