The Portland Timbers defeated FC Dallas Sunday night 1-0. With the victory, Portland’s overall record is now 5-7-5. An emerging story for the Timbers is how their defense has stepped up recently. Not only is this back to back shutouts for Portland, but they’ve only allowed three shots on goal and ten shots total between the two matches.
The game at Providence Park saw the Timbers dictating the pace of play. Just 1:20 into the match, the Timbers had earned themselves a corner kick. The kick was left to bounce outside the box for Diego Chara. Chara passed the ball to Juan Mosquera on his left. Mosquera would make a move outside, and draw a foul as he crossed into the box. The referee signaled for a penalty shot. However, VAR overturned the initial call, and Dallas would dodge an early scoring chance.
Still, Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes had to be on his toes all night. Portland only had 4 shots in the first half, but the chances the Timbers had were high quality. At 8:38, Paes made a save on Mosquera from a tight angle that pushed the ball onto the outside of the post. Two minutes later, a scramble inside the box would set up Dairon Asprilla for a header pass to Evander. Evander’s one-touch shot was saved by Paes, and the rebound was cleared away.
Portland would find a breakthrough in the 35th minute. The ball would fall to Diego Chara, and he would pass to Evander on the rush. Evander would slow up before reaching the box, and then chip a ball towards the penalty dot. The ball would soar over the head of Diego Chara, and find Franck Boli sprinting inside the box for a header. Paes would react and get a hand on the redirect, but it wasn’t enough to make the save. Boli’s goal would give the Timbers a 1-0 lead that would hold into halftime.
The second half was surprisingly similar to the first 45 minutes of action. Despite Dallas winning the battle for time of possession, Portland’s offense was putting in work. Dallas ended the game with 58.4% of the possession, but was outshot 10-3 in the second half.
Almost five minutes into the second half, Evander on a run would center a ball for Cristhian Paredes on the Goal Area line. A sliding defender would disrupt the pass, but the ball would bounce back to Santiago Moreno for a shot. Paes had to make another diving save, and from the ground, would lunge at the ball to cover up the rebound at 59:03. Shots would continue to pile up, but Paes was doing everything in his power to keep Dallas in the game.
Dallas would hold out long enough to give their offense a chance, but it came at the last possible second. Their shot came eight minutes into extra time, off a free kick from well outside the penalty box. From the center of the field, Jesús Ferreira would send a ball in. Sebastien Ibeagha would jump up and skip a header back toward the near post. However, Portland’s goalkeeper David Bingham would dive to push the ball out wide beyond the post. Facundo Quignon had a chance at a rebound for Dallas, but couldn’t turn the ball back to the center from the goal line. Portland would earn a goal kick from Quignon’s shot, and the Timbers hold on to win the game.
The Timbers take to the road next week for a duel against the San Jose Earthquakes at 7:30 p.m. before returning home on June 21 for a match against the Chicago Fire FC at 7:30 p.m.
Northwest Sports Desk 