They Didn't Give Up the Fight.

Cover photo credit to Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers.

The Timbers’ unbeaten streak has extended to 7 games. But they will definitely be flying home from Los Angeles wanting more than just a draw. 

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It only took the Timbers five minutes to grab the lead, as Juan Mosquera and Felipe Mora worked the ball out wide for Dairon Asprilla, who slid in an excellent cross for Santiago Moreno to smash home. However, the Galaxy quickly responded after Eriq Zavaleta was barely marked by Mosquera on a corner kick, and it was tied 1-1 at the ten-minute mark. Cristhian Paredes exited the game with a non-contact leg injury, but two minutes later the Timbers worked their combos and a Felipe Mora shot deflected off of Zavaleta and into his own net. Advantage restored. “NOT SO FAST,” said Lee Corso, probably wondering why he was watching a soccer game. A cross got deflected into the path of Douglas Costa, who promptly roofed it past David Bingham to tie the game again. Three minutes later, the Galaxy earned a free kick on the edge of the box, and an unmarked Zavaleta rose up to put in the go-ahead goal right before halftime. An astonishing series of events left the Timbers heading into the locker room with everything to play for in the second half. 

It took them a while to get adjusted. There were a couple more Galaxy chances but they were unable to put them away. After Sebastian Blanco came on the pitch, the Timbers quickly took the upper hand. A loose ball in the box found Felipe Mora, who tied the game with another crucial finish from his right foot in the 76th minute. The Timbers kept pressing for the winner, but it didn’t come. The points are shared in Los Angeles.

A 3-3 scoreline points to two causes: bad defense and good attacking. Let’s start with the defense. Specifically, the wide areas. The Portland Timbers are now beginning to use inverted fullbacks, which helps their attack, but was exposed defensively. Juan Mosquera in particular had a rough night defending. The Galaxy realized he was leaving acres of open space behind him, so Tyler Boyd and Raheem Edwards made that area their home in the first half. That’s where all of the Galaxy’s goals came from. Timbers defenders had to make some quick recoveries to end the threats, which led to a bunch of corner kicks. Two of those goals were from corner kicks, which is a familiar theme to Timbers fans. After the Timbers allowed Raul Ruidiaz to score from a corner kick on September 2nd, the Timbers were locking down on set pieces. Back to the film room this week. Miles Joseph said in his postgame press conference that the team has been working hard to implement the inverted fullbacks into their possession game. That’s perfectly fine. It worked in the attack. However, when Cristhian Paredes left with an injury, an already exposed backline became even more exposed. The Galaxy were able to counterattack with ease in the first half, and once the Timbers regained control of the match the defense wasn’t so exposed. But they needed the ball in order to be in control. There was another factor that helped them regain control of the match, and it’s something I’m very happy to see.

When Evander was signed, I made the case for the Timbers to become a pressing team. His defensive work rate and the roster the Timbers had made it a natural fit. Giovanni Savarese, for whatever reason, chose to stick with the low block that the team had been using since he took over. Miles Joseph has decided that this team should press, and they should do it high up the pitch. The Timbers’ press came to life in the second half, especially after Mora’s equalizer. Santiago Moreno and Noel Caliskan created chances by themselves in second half stoppage time just from high pressing. It’s very encouraging to see the team do this, and it can and will lead to more goals. 

Speaking of goals, it’s time to talk about Mosquera again. For all of his faults defensively tonight, he was instrumental in creating the team’s three goals. He didn’t register an assist, but he was magnificent in the buildup. Mora kept dropping in between the defense and the midfield to help progress the ball, and it was a wonderful pass from him that set up Asprilla’s cross that turned into the opening goal. Another excellent outing from him, and I’m so happy to see him get another call-up from Chile. He’s been making up for lost time. Santiago Moreno had another great game in the midfield. He got another goal and continues to get more and more confident with each game. 

It might seem weird to give my Man of the Match to Sebastian Blanco, but it’s exactly what I’m going to do. When Blanco entered the game, the Timbers immediately got back on to the front foot. He won 2 out of 3 ground duels, and completed 7 of 8 passes. He also completed a dribble. These aren’t impressive counting stats, but his impact helped the team grab the equalizer and keep pushing until the very end. He did his job to perfection tonight.

Time to run through the rest of the team. David Bingham had a subpar performance. I think the Galaxy’s second goal was saveable, but I thought he had a decent game in possession. It’s his job for the rest of the season, and I don’t want him to get complacent. Claudio Bravo was solid defensively, but was wasteful in possession. ZZ Stop lost concentration on set pieces, but outside of that they were solid. Bryan Acosta is really winning me over. He pressed well and did a solid job in defense. I’ve been repeating myself a lot when I say “solid,” but that’s just what the team was tonight. Solid for the most part, and spectacular/awful at times. The draw was a deserved result, even though the Timbers did play well enough to win. 

If Cristhian Paredes didn’t get hurt, they probably would’ve won. That’s no shot at Noel Caliskan by any means. Caliskan just doesn’t do the same stuff Paredes does. I thought Caliskan had the hardest job on the pitch tonight, and the more the game progressed the better he became. It’s too bad that there’s going to be a logjam at center midfield next season. If he’s given the proper playing time he needs, he could be a solid rotation option next season. The coaching staff has a lot of trust in him, but there are just too many veterans blocking his spot. I love his work rate and his passing. I think he would be a perfect shuttler in Joseph’s system. Paredes’ injury is still being evaluated, so he might have more chances in the future. Evander wasn’t a part of the squad tonight as he recovers from a calf injury, and it’s unclear if he’ll be ready for the trip to Montreal next week. Caliskan is very deserving of those minutes if the injury list continues to lengthen.

Dairon Asprilla put in another great shift. He had Raheem Edwards’ number all night until he was substituted. Antony didn’t get a ton of chances on the ball, and I think that was due to the game plan. The coaching staff identified Edwards as a weak spot and decided to shift their attacking focus to his area of the pitch. Although Antony didn’t get involved too much, it’s perfectly fine. It’s only his second start and he’s in a supportive environment. He’ll continue to improve.

Franck Boli joined Felipe Mora up top when he entered the pitch, and he helped the Timbers regain and keep control of the match. I love the work he does off the ball, and I was begging for him to score the winner. It looks like he’ll have to wait another week to end his goal drought.

A win would’ve been nice, but the Timbers still got a result away from home. Let’s take a look at what it means for the playoff push.

The unbeaten streak continues, and the Timbers are continuing to hold pat in the green. Most of their immediate playoff rivals still hold a game in hand, and every Western Conference team except the Timbers, San Jose and  Kansas City play on Wednesday. The playoff picture will be a lot clearer on Thursday morning. 

In terms of the play on the field, this is not a great result. The Timbers did enough to win and they beat themselves, particularly on set pieces. However, the unbeaten streak is now extended to seven games, and they were the ones who had the last comeback. Both Miles Joseph and Felipe Mora expressed how the spirits in the locker room were still high. This team knows they can score goals, and now the work turns to solidifying the defense for the final two matches of the regular season. This is still going to go down to Decision Day, but the team is ready for any challenge they face. Unfortunately, they don’t control their own destiny. That’s the realist’s point of view, however, and this locker room believes they can beat anybody on any given day. The culture is in a great place, and that will help them clean up the mistakes and get back in the win column.

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