—by Chris Rifer

Let’s level with ourselves for a moment here: the Timbers were the vastly inferior side on Saturday night. Sure, it can be said that the Timbers could have won. It cannot be said, however, that the Timbers should have won.

While RSL were dominant, the Timbers were opportunistic. The chances started early, as Jorge Perlaza made a nice run through the defense and received a good ball from Rodney Wallace, only to have an aggressive Nick Rimando snuff out the chance.

In the 22^nd minute, Eric Alexander—playing perhaps his best half as a Timber—found space in the middle of the RSL defense and blasted a shot from distance that Rimando did well to push over the bar.

Portland would come close again ten minutes later, as Diego Chara—playing on the right wing—perfectly played Perlaza in behind the defense. Perlaza touched the ball around an oncoming Rimando, but sent his effort from a tough angle wide of the near post.

While the highlights may have gone to the Timbers in the first 30 minutes, the match was going to RSL. Their efforts would pay off in the 38^th minute. After Alvaro Saborio played Ned Grabavoy in behind a ball-watching Andrew Jean-Baptiste, Rodney Wallace came over to cover the runner. He made a mess of things, though, by missing the ball with his body but slapping it to the ground with his flailing right arm.[1] The referee rightly awarded a penalty,[2] which Saborio calmly slotted home.

The stunned Timbers could only muster one more chance before halftime; another great shot from distance by Alexander that forced Rimando into another impressive diving save.

Rimando couldn’t muster his heroics coming out of the half, however. After Darlington Nagbe made a fool of Kyle Beckerman, he took a couple touches into the center of the field and unleashed a low shot from 20 yards that nestled itself inside the near post. It was an impressive piece of individual play that showed a flash of what Nagbe has to offer.

That flash became a flare in the 65^th minute, as Nagbe received a clever ball from Alexander, took one touch, and volleyed the ball beyond the outstretched arm of Rimando and into the far upper corner. Absolutely unbelievable stuff from Nagbe.

RSL, however, would return to their front foot, pinning the Timbers in their own end for long stretches of the next 25 plus minutes.

Portland had a couple chances to put the match in the books—namely a Franck Songo’o header off of a corner that Rimando saved and an Eric Brunner far post touch that sailed off target—but the Timbers couldn’t manage to put the Claret and Cobalt on ice. RSL would make Portland pay.

In the 89^th minute, after a bad James Marcelin giveaway in the Timbers defending third, Jonny Steele[3] and Will Johnson played a nice give-and-go into the box before Steele slotted the ball through the legs of Jean-Baptiste and into the far corner.

If the equalizer was a disappointment, the winner was a disaster. In the third minute of stoppage time, Fabian Espindola lifted the ball from the far corner of the box to Beckerman, who volleyed it first time from the top of the box and into the net.

After a dominant—at times breathtaking—performance from Real Salt Lake, the late comeback delivered a painful piece of justice to the suddenly reeling Timbers. The Claret and Cobalt earned a deserved three points and Portland let a game they could steal slip through their fingers.

Match Observations

• Possession statistics can be deceptive. Saturday’s possession stats are not. RSL had the ball 61% of the time and completed 83% of their passes, for a total of 540 completions. This wasn’t Jamison Olave and Nat Borchers kicking the ball around their own end for 50 minutes, folks, it was Kyle Beckerman and Javi Morales surgically slicing through the Timbers defense. It is a miracle—a miracle—Portland didn’t concede more than one before the 89^th minute.
• I’m not usually one to Monday morning quarterback tactical decisions, but John Spencer was sorely outcoached on Saturday. While Spencer was wise to start Nagbe in the center of the pitch, it was a mistake to start Perlaza up top and Chara out wide. Chara had a couple nice moments on the wing, but was largely anonymous. Perlaza was dazzling until he got the ball, at which point he became maddening. More importantly, Chara’s vacation from the center of the field could not have come at a worse time. Beckerman and Morales[4] are the best central midfield in the MLS by quite a margin. Without Chara in center midfield to do his sidling and launch the attack, RSL dominated the midfield and dictated the game.
• On the bright side, Saturday was about as opportunistic as the Timbers have ever been. Despite RSL’s dominance in possession, Portland managed 15 shots, 8 of which were on frame.
• The fullback situation is getting desperate.
• The third kits look amazing.

Timbers Grades

Troy Perkins, 7 Kept the Timbers afloat through large stretches of the match. Not much he could have done on any of the concessions. Maybe could have made a play on the third, but it would have been a heroic effort. Very good day for Troy Perkins under all sorts of pressure.

Rodney Wallace, 3 Obviously the handball in the box was awful, but at least he committed it trying to clean up AJB’s mistake. He made plenty of his own. Rod was repeatedly victimized by whoever he was facing, be it Luis Gil, Paulo, or Espindola.

Eric Brunner, 4.5 I feel bad for Eric. He was the only competent individual on a wretched backline. At times he tried to do a little too much and would find himself out of position chasing a hopeless challenge, but it’s hard to blame him considering the utter incompetence around him.[5]

Andrew Jean-Baptiste, 2.5 AJB and I had one thing in common last night: we were both awestruck by Javi Morales. The rookie has lots of potential, but he has some growing to do. To be fair, though, he’s having way more asked of him than he should at this point.

Lovel Palmer, 3 I just wish there were options.

Eric Alexander, 7 Had a brilliant first half and a good second half. If anything good happened for Portland offensively, it involved Eric, Darlington, or both. If he could find this sort of form consistently, John Spencer would have a tough decision on his hands.

Jack Jewsbury, 3 Wretched night for Jack in his defensive midfield role. Javi Morales absolutely had his way with him.

Darlington Nagbe, 9 Not just his best night as a Timber, but the best night any player has had in a Timbers shirt in the last two years. His two goals were pure, unmitigated brilliance. Aside from that, he was fantastic as an attacking midfielder, repeatedly finding soft spots in the RSL defense. There were a few times he made Jamison Olave and Nat Borchers look silly. That’s saying something.

Diego Chara, 4 All alone on the wing. When he was on the right, everything was moving up the left. His absence was felt in the center.

Jorge Perlaza, 2.5 With Nagbe becoming a star, Perlaza is about to find himself marginalized. Has to learn to hit the target. Was set up nicely on two occasions—in part due to his fantastic movement—but made a mess of things with the ball at his feet.

Kris Boyd, 4 This was one of those days where Boyd didn’t have much in the way of service. Without service, Boyd doesn’t deliver.

Franck Songo’o, 6 Denied twice by Rimando in fine fashion; once on the corner and another on a very impressive volley from the top of the box. Wasn’t quite as active on the wing as he was last week, but he will be a 90 minute guy as soon as he sheds a couple pounds.

James Marcelin, 3 Unusually brutal stuff from Marcelin. His bad giveaway directly led to the equalizer. It wasn’t wrong of Spenny to bring Marcelin on, but it was wrong to bring him on for Chara. Should have brought Boyd off and gone to a 4-1-4-1 with Nagbe up top, Songo’o and Alexander on the wings, and Jack, Diego, and James clogging the middle. The more I think about it, the less explicable this substitution becomes.

Onward, Rose City!