—by Chris Rifer

The buzz from the Timbers two wins at home didn’t last long on Saturday night at the Home Depot Center. By ten minutes into the match, Rose City’s momentum and newfound optimism was effectively killed by the star-studded LA Galaxy, who, for the first time this season, looked like the dominant offensive force that everybody expected them to be.

From the first kick, the Timbers looked star-struck and nervous. In the fourth minute, Chad Barrett chested down a Landon Donovan pass at the top of the box and sent a laser past Troy Perkins into the side netting.

The damage worsened four minutes later when Rodney Wallace grabbed Donovan at the top of the box, conceding what can only charitably be called a boneheaded penalty. Donovan, predictably, put his effort from the spot in the back of the net. Just like that the Timbers were looking at 2-nil down.

The chances kept coming for LA early in the first half, as the Timbers defense showed a disturbing lack of moxie that we haven’t seen in the early going since Toronto. The midfield struggled mightily to maintain possession and the defense seemed constantly wrong-sided.

Through the end of the first half and into the second half, however, Portland seemed to regain its composure a bit. The possession in the midfield got a little bit better—although until Diego Chara came on in the second half there was a noticeable hole in the middle—and opportunities slowly began to present themselves.

That is, until they got to Galaxy keeper Donovan Ricketts. Ricketts was magnificent, stuffing a Futty header, a Kenny Cooper crack from distance, and a Cooper touch off of a beautiful Jorge Perlaza cross, all of which justifiably could have been tallies.

Any hope that Portland had, however, was crushed in the 67^th as Juan Pablo Angel sent a cross back post to an inexcusably unmarked Landon Donovan, who did what he does. The Timbers left the Home Depot Center with a little bit of a reality check. For the second time this season, they faced an elite MLS team on the road and got blitzed early. This coming Saturday, Portland will see if they can avoid a similar fate against another elite side, Real Salt Lake, at home. It doesn’t get any easier from here.

Match Observations

• There were some interesting parallels and some interesting differences between the Galaxy match and the season opener in Colorado. Most obviously, the Timbers came out completely wide-eyed, and got punked early as a result. As a look at the stat sheet shows, though, this was a fundamentally different game. Whereas in Colorado the Timbers were thoroughly dominated, on Saturday the score line was probably a bit harsh. The Timbers outshot Galaxy 13 to 11 and put six shots on frame. Frankly, the Timbers were really unfortunate not to break through at least once. Portland lead corner kicks six to four, and created a number of other chances off of free kicks—where Jack Jewsbury continues to look dangerous.
• The back line has to right itself. Troy Perkins was completely exposed on all three goals, twice by Timbers defenders finding themselves unnecessarily on the wrong side of the Galaxy attack and once by a cross that, with proper shape, should have been cleared. Early in the week John Spencer pointed out that most goals come as a result of mistakes. That certainly held true on Saturday.
• Diego Chara is good. 24 hours before the match, Chara probably couldn’t pick most of his teammates out of a police lineup. Nonetheless, he made an impact coning on in the second half, finally creating something for the Timbers in the middle of the field. The most impressive aspects of his game were his pace – which was blistering – and the speed with which he could cut out a ball and look to make the first pass to start the attack. Stat geeks will hate this guy because he’s not likely to be scoring many goals or directly creating any, but make no mistake he is going to nip a lot of opposing attacks in the bud and start a number of the Timbers own. Granted, Chara was far from dominating the middle of the pitch on Saturday, but the flashes he showed are awfully promising. Early review: Great signing, Gavin.
• Please note, I use the terms “chested” and “at the top of the box” liberally in the second and third paragraphs. Both were controversial decisions by the referee, as Barrett looked to use his shoulder to control the ball and the initial contact between Wallace and Donovan was outside the box. Regardless, anybody who watched the game knows that Galaxy were the better side and their three points—even if they were by a margin that was a bit unjust—were well-deserved.

Timbers Grades

Troy Perkins, 5 Wasn’t culpable for any of the three goals, but I would like to see him be a bit more vocal with his defense. The defense is young, and could certainly use his leadership in back. Made a couple nice saves, especially in the 4 v 1 situation in the 38^th minute.

Rodney Wallace, 3.5 This looked like the Rod of March rather than the Rod of April. The penalty against Donovan, regardless of whether it was the correct call, was a boneheaded play. Where Wallace is best is when he pushes up, but even then he showed a lack of quality against Galaxy.

Futty, 4.5 The backline was leaky all day, and Futty was nondescript for much of the evening. Was unlucky to be denied a goal by Ricketts.

Eric Brunner, 4 Battled hard, but was culpable on the first goal as he let Barrett get in behind him. Perhaps gets an extra notch down as the leader of a backline that looked completely overmatched.

Steve Purdy, 4 Like Brunner, the usually reliable Purdy was much less reliable and didn’t pose any serious threat getting forward. It seems in the last few games that the league has figured out his shtick a little bit. It will be interesting to see is he can persevere and return to the effectiveness we saw in the early going.

Kalif Alhassan, 5.5 Really was the only guy in the midfield in the first half that looked like he belonged, or at least looked like he believed that he belonged. Didn’t have the success getting forward that he did against FC Dallas, but still was poised on the ball and showed flashes of the creativity he treated the Army to last week.

Jack Jewsbury, 5 Disappeared in the midfield for substantial portions of the match, and is certainly at fault for the Timbers essentially vacating the middle of the field in the first half. That said, was again the best set piece taker on the pitch. When you’re playing against one of the best set piece takers of all time, that’s enough to get you a passing grade.

James Marcelin, 4 I wonder if the signing of Chara has Marcelin looking over his shoulder a little bit, as he has seemed substantially more conservative since then. He just looks afraid to make a mistake, and as a result isn’t having much of an impact.

Jeremy Hall, 5 I’ve thought Hall was perhaps the Timbers most underappreciated player through the early season, but the reason for that is that he is usually pretty quiet on the right wing. He does some nice things defensively, providing an extra bit of cover for the right side of the defense, but when Darlington Nagbe was introduced in the second half the juxtaposition was clear. The Timbers lost a little bit of defense, but gained a lot looking forward.

Kenny Cooper, 5.5 This was another yeoman’s effort by Cooper. The Timbers were struggling to get him service, so he took matters into his own hands, often tracking back into the midfield to get the ball on his foot. Make no mistake, Cooper doubters, Kenny Cooper is dangerous with the ball on his foot or at his head. Just ask Donovan Ricketts, who was lucky to deny him twice.

Jorge Perlaza, 5 Made a couple nice runs, and his cross to Cooper late in the match was put on a dime. That said, didn’t come close to being as dangerous as he was in last week’s homestand, although a serious argument can be made that this falls mostly on the midfield for failing to get the ball at his feet.

Diego Chara, 5.5 As good a performance as could be expected, having been with the team 24 hours. Look for him to work into the starting XI by next week.

Darlington Nagbe, 5.5 Probably his best performance of the season thus far. Had a couple moments of brilliance on the wing in the late going, and is starting to look better in his distribution.

Sal Zizzo, 4.5 Had a relatively short stint, but left me wanting quite a bit. It is safe to say that Kalif has locked down his spot on the wing, and that Nagbe has probably laid claim, at least eventually, to the other spot. There is still a little bit of curiosity, however, about how this guy could produce given a full 90.