—by Chris Rifer
If there were any doubts remaining that the Timbers were serious participants in the playoff race, they were decisively dispelled on Friday night. From the opening kick, Portland took command of the match, shelling Revs keeper Matt Reis, and showing the Army the confidence and flair they have developed over the last month.
As has been common in home matches recently, the Timbers took control of the proceedings early. In the 9th minute, Lovel Palmer chased down an errant cross and sent a ball into the box. There the ball found the feet of Diego Chara, who split three Revs defenders and slotted the ball past Reis and into the bottom corner.
From there the match would open up into a crowd-pleasing, attack-minded affair. New England would pose the next threat, as Milton Caraglio juggled the ball onto his left foot at the top of the box and fired at net, only to have Troy Perkins parry it away with a diving save.
Two minutes later, Mike Chabala found Darlington Nagbe at the far post, but the youngster’s header floated just wide. In the 32nd minute, however, Chewy’s ambition getting forward would pay off. After Sal Zizzo held the ball up with a dizzying array of moves, he switched the ball to Chabala. Mike found Kenny Cooper unmarked at the mouth of the goal, where Cooper redirected Chabala’s cross into the net.
From there the Timbers would thoroughly dominate the shell-shocked and disorganized Revs defense. In first half stoppage, A Jack Jewsbury corner was cleared only as far as Lovel Palmer. Palmer mishit his volley attempt, but the ball spun onto his left foot. His left footed strike from 25 yards skipped through the defense, beat Reis, but was stoned by the post. The rebound, however, ricocheted out to Palmer, whose third effort sailed over the bar.
At the outset of the second half New England looked to reestablish some sort of order. The Revs began to control the midfield a little bit more and showed at least some intent to go forward. Despite creating a few looks, including a Caraglio poke from close range that went high, New England couldn’t turn their momentum into goals.
In the 66th minute Portland would salt the match away. Kalif Alhassan settled the ball on the left wing, and sent a beautiful ball into the box that found Nagbe eight yards from goal. This time Nagbe’s header was on target, skipping past Reis into the bottom corner.
With the end result no longer in doubt, the teams treated the fans to an entertaining last 25 minutes. New England continued to press to pull one back, but disappointment accompanied each Revs opportunity.
If there is a statement to be made against a weaker opponent, the Timbers made it. Clearly the best team on the night, Portland dominated virtually from start to finish. One thing is clear coming out of Friday, Portland is serious about its playoff bid.
Match Observations
- Keeping the clean sheet on Saturday was as much about the midfield as it was about the defense. While the defense didn’t play poorly, there were certainly times where a Revolution attacker would get lost and wind up all alone at the back post. The midfield, however, was stellar at keeping New England from pinning the Timbers defense down, as they transitioned nicely from defense into attack. Just as importantly, they did extremely well to keep the attack going when the Revs cleared out a volley.
- One frustrating bit about the night, though, is the recurrence of nagging injuries forcing players out of action for brief spells. While it hasn’t had an adverse effect on Portland in the last few weeks, just as the team seems to be gelling, the Timbers are missing a couple key players. Specifically, the back line of Horst and Brunner seemed to be really coming together, but just as it is, Horst goes down with an injury.
- As good as Friday night was, however, Saturday was equally tough on the boys in green. Chivas USA’s loss at the Fire largely puts the kybosh on the Goats’ previously remote playoff hopes. As expected, D.C. United got beat in Seattle, with the thoroughness of the stomping suggesting that the loss of Pontius may take a toll on D.C. That was the end of the good news. In what wasn’t a surprise, Houston took care of San Jose, even if some brief hope was afforded when the Quakes broke through with an early goal. Union, in a largely inconsequential result for the Timbers’ purposes, broke out of their funk to beat Crew – who seem to have started a tailspin of their own. The really bad news, however, came out of Dallas, where the Red Bulls took three unexpected points from a faltering F.C. Dallas side, catapulting the energy drinks over the Timbers in position for the final playoff spot.
- Before the weekend I agreed with John Spencer that 10 points from the final seven matches would be enough to put Portland in the playoffs. I’m not so sure now. If Red Bulls regain form, they face a favorable schedule that has most of their toughest fixtures at home. D.C. United, although in questionable form with the loss of Pontius, have two games in hand on everybody, although sit two points behind the playoff pace. Despite being a game down on the field, Houston sits three points above the cut line. The Timbers need to end the season ahead of one of these teams in order to advance. The nice thing is that the Timbers face all three of these teams, so their task is simple: You want to go to the playoff, go win matches.
Timbers Grades
Troy Perkins, 6 Didn’t have a ton to do, largely because the Revs showed a remarkable ability to miss the target, but his save on the heels of the Timbers’ first goal was huge.
Mike Chabala, 6 Had a field day coming forward, as the Revs defense looked especially disheveled on its right side. Didn’t have his best game in defense, but with all the marauding he was doing, that’s understandable.
Futty, 5 Just an average outing from Futty. I’m not convinced he is entirely healthy.
Eric Brunner, 6 Probably the best of the defensive unit again on Friday. I was perhaps a bit premature on this matter last week, but after stringing a few good outings together, it’s clear Brunner is back to being the dependable center back we have come to know and love.
Lovel Palmer, 5 Again, sort of like Chabala. Plenty of room to roam up front, and took good advantage of that. Still, he gets a harsher grade for mistakes in defense. The Timbers right side was its leakiest, with a number of blown marks in the second half.
Kalif Alhassan, 6 Good outing from Kalif. Was great with the ball at his feet, and his cross to Nagbe for the third goal was class. That said, his grade is held back a little bit by getting absolutely schooled a few times in defense.
Jack Jewsbury, 5.5 As the season has progressed, Jewsbury has been joining the attack a lot less than he used to. He does well enough in his holding position, but his impact has become much less obvious. No blame to Jack for it, though. With the emergence of Chara as a force, that’s the role he has to slip into.
Diego Chara, 7 No reasonable argument can be made that he hasn’t been the team’s best player over the course of the last month. He has been simply fantastic, and it paid off again with a good opening goal and another game of great box-to-box play in the center of the midfield.
Sal Zizzo, 6.5 Was linking up really well with Lovel. Primarily, though, he was unstoppable on the right side. Ran at and around New England’s defense with complete impunity.
Kenny Cooper, 6 A couple more missed opportunities and offside calls than some would like to see, but you can see that he is starting to do a better job of providing a target and putting pressure on the defense.
Darlington Nagbe, 8 Wow. Just wow. I’m having a hard time thinking of very many players in the league that bring the mix of pace and quality up front that Darlington showed on Friday. If he can do that with regularity, he is going to dominate.
Bright Dike, 6 Whereas last week he was out of control, this week was a good example of how Dike can create controlled chaos. Teams still don’t respect his pace, which, if it continues, will lead to goals.
Eric Alexander, 5.5 Brought more to the match defensively than Zizzo did. Is a bit buried on the team at the moment, and barring injury or dramatic change will likely stay that way for the year, but it seems the front office would do well to find a way for him to at least compete for a starting position somewhere in the midfield next year.
Onward, Rose City!
