—by Chris Rifer

The Portland Timbers’ quest for the Cascadia Cup and a playoff berth lives on today after the Timbers knocked off the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 on Saturday evening. In a physical match that befitted the rivalry, the Timbers showed far more moxie in front of goal and tremendous patience to seal a less-than-stressful victory over their fellow MLS freshman.

Portland didn’t waste any time getting the party started, as in the 2^nd minute Diego Chara collected a pass from countryman Jorge Perlaza, took one touch and slammed a shot inside the near post. Inside his box, Gavin Wilkinson was probably nodding approvingly while giving annoying “I told you so” glances to everybody around him.

From there the Whitecaps looked to establish a measure of control over the match. While they dominated possession, the ‘Caps looked completely harmless coming forward. Anything that looked like it might develop into a half chance was quickly extinguished by a Portland defense that was well prepared for anything Vancouver threw at them.

Any supporters who were growing anxious about the Timbers lack of possession were mollified in the 33^rd minute. After Jack Jewsbury’s set piece was knocked down in the box, Jorge Perlaza beat an observant Whitecaps defense to the ball and slotted the ball past Joe Cannon.

Timbers fans have been here before, however, where Portland took an early lead and failed to control the match the rest of the way. Saturday would be different.

The Whitecaps would continue to control possession, but couldn’t create anything truly dangerous from it through the middle of the match. A few shots from distance directly at Troy Perkins and a couple crosses to nobody in particular were all Vancouver could muster.

Portland would, however, create one more golden opportunity. Unfortunately it fell to the foot of Kalif Alhassan. Chara looked to take advantage of ‘Caps midfielder Gershon Koffie’s pathetic header toward his own goal by laying the ball off for Kalif for the tap in. Kalif, now legendary for his ability to miss the target, would put his tap in off the inside of the near post for the crown jewel of his season-long goal-scoring ineptitude.

In spite of Kalif’s miss—which certainly aroused some memories of Brunner’s header off the post that would have put Portland three up against Toronto—the Timbers were successful in keeping Vancouver from creating any bona fide opportunities.

That is, of course, until the 88^th minute when Camilo took a ball, shook David Horst with a pretty pirouette, and tucked a bending ball inside the far post to pull one back.

That was the end of it for the Whitecaps, however, as for perhaps the first time all night the Timbers took control of possession and killed off the remaining moments without much drama.

With the three points in hand, Portland finds themselves back in playoff contention. Their ridiculous stretch of play, however, continues through the week with the two biggest matches of the season on the horizon: Chivas USA and at D.C. United.

Match Observations

• As absurd as that last sentence would have appeared at the beginning of the season, it’s the absolute truth. Both teams are just ahead of Portland in the playoff hunt. The situation breaks down fairly simply: 6 points and the Timbers put themselves in an enviable position. 4 points and it’s “game on”. 2 or 3 points and Portland clings to life. One or fewer and the Timbers are virtually eliminated. Chivas looks to have the best form right now, at 1-1-3 in their last five away matches, including quality draws at Seattle, Colorado, and Kansas City. D.C., as they have through much of the season, have been wildly unpredictable. In their last three home matches, dating back to July 20, they are 1-1-1, with a 4-0 drubbing of Vancouver to their credit, as well as a mystifying 1-0 loss to New England. The matches probably mean the most to frontrunner D.C., who enter a brutal September that consists of fixtures at Chivas, at Seattle, Chivas home, RSL home, and at rival Philadelphia. Chivas, on the other hand, has a more favorable schedule with RSL at home, the home-and-home with United, at Chicago, and TFC home. Portland falls in the middle with tough road trips to Philly and New York, but friendlier home fixtures with New England and San Jose.
• So, after all that, you probably want a broad-view prediction. Well, I’ll give you a conditional prediction. Portland has to take at least 7 points out of their next 3 home matches—Chivas, San Jose, and New England. Three of those have to come from Chivas. No question about that. The road matches, at D.C., at Philly, and at New York, then, are crucial. If Portland takes 3 points out of those, there is hope. 4 or more points and there is expectation. 2 or fewer and there is despair. Write that down. You can probably mock me with it later. Or now, if you like.
• I thought the midfield—especially the center—was masterful on Saturday. That’s an odd thing to say in a match in which your team has less than 40% possession, but I thought they were both the difference in the defense and the catalyst for the offense. The possession statistic is highly deceptive in this instance. The ‘Caps had a lot of harmless possession that the Timbers more or less gave to them. Most anytime Vancouver looked to get forward with any intent, the Timbers midfield was there to clog up the lanes and keep the Whitecaps from creating anything serious.
• Finally, the trade. Jeremy Hall for Eric Alexander. I love it, and here’s why. Hall and Purdy, while different, bring about the same overall quality to the right back spot. Both decent, but nothing to write home about. The center of the midfield, while a position of strength in the Starting XI, has virtually no depth after the trade of Adam Moffat. More important, however, is that I feel that Alexander’s upside is greater than Hall’s. Alexander is a guy that was called up to the USMNT for a quick cup of coffee this year. Is he the next Michael Bradley? Probably not. But the national team program is intrigued with his potential. Here’s the other thing: Jack Jewsbury is 30. He’s not ancient. He probably has at least 2 good years left in him. But still, he’s 30. And then there’s this, and this one is surely to elicit some cries of disgust: Jewsbury, in the midst of a career year and coming off an All Star appearance, has never been valued as highly as he is right now, and likely never will be valued this highly again. Bringing Alexander in gives Gavin the ability to listen to offers for Jewsbury from around the league. I’m not saying you shop him, I’m just saying now you don’t have to slam down the phone if somebody calls. That’s big, especially if somebody is offering something enticing. Did Jeremy Hall, a nice guy and a solid player, give Portland anything like that? No.

Timbers Grades

Troy Perkins, 5 Didn’t have much to do, and absolutely can’t be faulted for a pretty fantastic goal by Camilo. Was trustworthy the few times he was challenged with shots from deep.

Mike Chabala, 5.5 He couldn’t be more different than Rod Wallace. Whereas with Wallace the left side was an area of anxiety and, at times, promise, now the left side is substantially quieter.

Futty, 6 I thought Futty had a really nice outing. The boys in the middle were getting lots of cover from their midfield, but when they were called upon Horst and Futty did a nice job.

David Horst, 6 I liked his play, but I also liked his “don’t take no crap off nobody” attitude when Vancouver got physical. He gets docked just a touch for getting schooled on the concession, but that wasn’t entirely his fault.

Lovel Palmer, 5.5 Again, gets credit for a good overall defensive performance. I’m just waiting to see exactly what it was that made Spenny and Gavin bust tail to go out and get this guy.

Kalif Alhassan, 4 For his body of work, this is a harsh grade. For the most part Kalif was making good decisions on the ball and actually played a few sequences of decent defense. But seriously, somebody better have an EpiPen on the sideline in case Kalif ever hits the target, because at this point it has to be assumed that he is deathly allergic to goal.

Jack Jewsbury, 6.5 His defense was good, his distribution in midfield was good, and he got a quality assist on Diego’s goal, and, it could be argued, deserved one for Jorge’s goal.

Diego Chara, 8 I want to point out two things here. First, considering his affect, I think it’s hilariously ironic for Spencer to refer to Chara as a man amongst boys. Second, if you want to look for a reason Portland isn’t the same on the road as they are at home (at least recently), look at Diego. Fabulous at home, quiet on the road. Being that this is his first year in the league, with the difficulty in travel, that is to be expected to a certain extent. But if Diego were to put together a home-like performance at D.C., N.Y. or Philly that would go a long way toward bolstering Portland’s playoff hopes.

Sal Zizzo, 5 Sort of a quiet game from Sal. I wonder if the ridiculous stretch of matches in a row has taken a little bit out of his legs, because the runs don’t seem as crisp as they did a couple weeks ago.

Kenny Cooper, 5.5 His play in the midfield to dispossess the ball and play it to Jewsbury to set up the first goal shouldn’t go unnoticed. The rest of his play, however, largely did go unnoticed.

Jorge Perlaza, 7 A goal and an assist. Solid day at the office. It wasn’t in the way that he usually does it, but Jorge created his goal with his speed. Looking at the replay, there is no way Perlaza should have been first to that ball in the box. In fact, there were two and maybe three ‘Caps that should have been able to get a foot to it before him. They didn’t. In fact, not even close.

Bright Dike, 5.5 It’s starting to look like he’s rounding into form. Had a couple nice runs in a modest spell.

James Marcelin, 5 Not a ton to report here.

Eric Brunner, 4 This is the guy that bears the bulk of the responsibility for the concession. Camilo may well have been offside, but if there was anybody holding him on, it was Brunner. The Timbers were in an offside trap, and Brunner busted it. Snap out of it, beanpole,[1] your team is going to need you.

Onward, Rose City!