One Cup Final Down. Seven To Go.

Cover photo credit to Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers.

Welcome back, Portland Timbers. We have missed you.

The first half started with San Jose largely in control. Zac McGraw was hard at work putting out fires. The defining moment of the first half came in the 33rd minute, when Evander took a pass from Jaroslaw Niezgoda and put it perfectly into the top left corner. Over the course of the first 45, the game slowly began to open up. Whatever follows in the second half should be at the very least entertaining.

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Well, folks, the second half was entertaining. Within 15 seconds the Timbers had already fashioned a chance. McGraw continued to run everywhere and put out fires. The Timbers almost found their second goal in the 57th minute, but Jaroslaw Niezgoda’s shot was blocked by Tanner Beason. Chances continued to come for both sides, but it was Felipe Mora’s night to fully announce his return. After receiving a perfect through ball from Marvin Loria in the 87th minute, he outmuscled Beason and slotted home a perfect low finish into the right side of the net. Claudio Bravo committed a handball in 2nd half stoppage time, but the referee ruled it as a free kick outside of the box. No VAR was used, but it wouldn’t have mattered anyways. The Timbers have never lost in Leagues Cup.

What a weird start to tonight. I would be doing a disservice if I didn’t fully explain the oddity that began the match. Before a ball was even kicked, Leagues Cup put on a whole show about how this was definitely a different tournament than the regular season. It began with a national anthem with no one on the field. Credit to Kyra Smith for performing another excellent rendition, despite my confused utterances of “What?” throughout the song. Both teams walked out separately, and Yimmi Chara’s return to the starting XI gave us another trademark Yimmi moment. Whenever he walks out, he always has a mascot taller than him. It’s like they line up the kids, find the tallest one, and assign him to Yimmi. It never fails to bring a smile to my face. Once again, before a ball was kicked, Diego Chara and Jackson Yueill both had microphones in their hands for some reason. They read a printed statement about how the crowd needs to not do offensive chants. I’m not going to expand on that because most of you should already know what chant they’re referring to. Just seemed very out-of-place, but I guess there are actual consequences for doing it now. Won’t believe it until I see it. Either way, a lot of weirdness before a ball was kicked tonight. 

Now we get to talk about how good the Timbers looked, because oh Lordy they were fantastic tonight. Evander declined to celebrate after his absolute BANGER of a goal, and he explained that decision to me after the game: “I was stressed at that moment in the game. We didn’t have the ball a lot.” That speaks a lot to this team’s mentality at the moment. It’s not just about scoring goals; they have other goals besides scoring that they want to accomplish on the pitch. Everyone who came on the pitch played well. I would like to shout out Jaroslaw Niezgoda in particular. Yes, he didn’t score. But he did everything else. Completing 13/14 passes is very good, especially when those numbers are coupled with 3 chances created. He kept running and he performs a lot better when there are players behind him pushing him to do better. I was hoping that he would get his goal, but alas you can’t have everything you wish for. Yimmi Chara is very interesting. He’s still not DP-quality, but the team does play better when he’s on the pitch. Call it an aura if you must, but that’s what he brings at this point in his Timbers career. If he’s willing to come off the DP tag I don’t think anyone would have a problem with him. When the Timbers had possession tonight, Cristhian Paredes would get farther up the pitch to allow Evander space to pick passes from deep. It’s an interesting tweak and it definitely worked. Paredes is still better defensively than offensively, but his years of experience with the team allows him to be a pretty decent playmaker farther up the pitch. He is also a good presser when playing farther up. Finding Evander’s best role has been a challenge for Savarese. Tonight was an encouraging sign though. His nonchalance is absolutely hilarious. He does the most casual nutmegs and takes defenders’ souls without looking like he even is trying to. But he definitely is. What a player. 

Another clean sheet allows me another chance to dig deeper into the backline. What a performance from Zac McGraw today. He’s one of the best center backs in the league. He rushes everywhere to put out fires. Plus he has such a good partnership with Dario Zuparic. Zuparic continues to be the best player in the league, and tried to upstage Messi by trying a trivela cross in the first half. Just elite player things, I guess. Juan Mosquera and Claudio Bravo had the toughest assignments tonight. Mosquera kept Cade Cowell relatively contained, and made a crucial (maybe DOGSO) tackle on Cowell in the 67th minute. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with it, but it was very close. Bravo’s handball was an officiating mistake (should’ve been a penalty), but he kept Cristian Espinoza in a locker tonight. Outstanding performance from the backline.

More questions are going to be raised about the keeper competition. I’m not going to go deep into the stats to debate it, but it was another good outing for David Bingham. I think he’s earned the nickname Big Save Dave. He does possess a great command of his box and it’s still a toss-up as to who will be the starting keeper for the rest of the season. I do think Bingham has a leg up right now, but Ivacic could still start against Tigres. Neither option is a bad one, so this is a good problem for the team to have. 

Felipe Mora scored his first open play goal tonight since *that goal*. The reaction from all the players around him should fill you with joy. As a popular internet meme would say, everyone liked that. Everyone also liked his children lifting up his log slab. My goodness, the vibes are immaculate in that locker room right now. 

Speaking of a healthy locker room, Santiago Moreno returned to the pitch for the first time since his transfer request. I was always skeptical as to whether or not it was legitimate, but since he dismissed his agent I have no more worries about his status in the team. He still deserves a pay raise though. Get on it, Awkward Ned. 

I also had the opportunity to speak to Jeremy Ebobisse after the game. Coming back to Portland is always emotional for him, and he was happy to see his former teammates. It’s clear that Portland still has a special place in his heart, and I’m going to let him explain that. “It’s where I became an adult.” He continues to be a class act, and he makes me proud to be a fellow Jeremy. 

The team’s mentality deserves a deeper look. I had the opportunity to talk to three players after the match ended. All three of them (Evander, McGraw, Mora) mentioned how the message communicated by Gio Savarese was instrumental in their performance tonight. Gio told the squad to treat tonight like a cup final. That team looked like they were playing in a cup final. Savarese is at his best when a tournament is involved, and he has a healthy squad to call upon now. Timbers stock continues to rise. 

That’s back to back wins over quality opponents. In terms of the Leagues Cup group, Portland now hold the top spot. If they want to secure passage into the Knockout Stage (and a home match against either Leon/Vancouver/LA Galaxy) they need to beat Tigres to control their own destiny. We are talking about the reigning Mexican champions, however, and the Timbers are not in the playoff places in MLS. But the Timbers do have a massive advantage: Providence Park. Savarese loves to stress how important home matches are, and a win against Tigres guarantees another home game. If the Timbers want to make a deep run (and they definitely do), a result against Tigres is the bare minimum they must accomplish. Maybe Miguel Araujo will make his debut. Maybe Franck Boli will be back for Wednesday. Either way, it’s a tough mountain to climb.

To put a cherry on top of this delicious Saturday night sundae, the healthy team Savarese now has at his disposal means that the tough slog of the first half of the season will soon be in the rear-view mirror. More signings are needed (specifically another winger) but this team is motivated and playing the rush after winning 2 massive pots in a row. They will need all their wits about them as they enter their next heads-up battle, but the result they needed to get has been accomplished. It’s time to keep riding their hotstreak and building off these positive results, because now they’re at a squad standpoint where they can keep doing it with no hiccups. Another cup final on Wednesday.

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