Timbers Crumble Under the Pressure, Lose 2-1 to St. Louis

The Timbers have lost 2-1 to St. Louis City SC at Providence Park. A game that started off with serious promise quickly turned to anxiety, frustration, and then outright anger. They started off the first half with a very big statement via a Zac McGraw header into the back of the net from an Eryk Williamson corner kick. The Timbers then saw starter Cristhian Paredes pull up limping and eventually being stretchered off the field with a non-contact knee injury. St. Louis kept on creeping closer and closer to scoring after a ground cross was weakly hit by Jared Stroud and crept past Timbers keeper David Bingham. The second half started out very well for Portland, as they were able to create a few good chances. But the attack stalled after Jaroslaw Niezgoda entered the match for Evander, and St. Louis got another break when a set piece wasn’t properly cleared and deflected off Kyle Hiebert’s head and trickled into the net. The Timbers began attacking in earnest to try and get the equalizer, but none of those attacks challenged St. Louis keeper Roman Burki at all. St. Louis held on for a 2-1 win. Yellow cards were handed out to Dario Zuparic, McGraw, and Santiago Moreno for the Timbers, while Jared Stroud and Miguel Perez received bookings for the visitors.

 The starting XI for Portland was very peculiar upon release. Bingham once again started for a now healthy Ivacic, with Giovanni Savarese explaining in the post-game press conference that he had performed better in practice than the reigning Supporters’ Player of the Year. Already a very questionable decision from the Timbers’ manager, and fans were also quick to point out that Evander was not in the starting XI either. This was due to a groin injury, but upon Paredes getting stretchered off the field he was subbed in. Nathan Fogaca also made his first start of the season, and played the full 90. The aforementioned Paredes was getting in dangerous areas before he exited. 

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This match was a game of two distinct periods, and the turning point was Evander leaving the pitch for Niezgoda. Up until then, I was very impressed with the Timbers’ press. Through that press they were able to create chances and look cohesive as an attacking unit. But Niezgoda’s entry changed that. Suddenly, the Timbers looked like the same Timbers that we have seen for the majority of the season: unable to make quality runs and relying too much on the wings for creativity. The lone goal did come off a set piece, but there were chances to add a second. A lack of decisiveness in the opponent’s box was crippling. St. Louis seemed to get their second wind just as the collective Timbers’ breath became ragged. Because of these circumstances, we dropped points at home. 

Juan David Mosquera is the best player on this team. He was incredibly dangerous down the flanks, creating a team-leading 4 chances. He is also a very good defender, and at 20 years old, he is shouldering a lot of responsibility for this team already. I am also choosing to be patient with Evander, as he was probably not going to play for as long as he did considering his practice injury. He was still making good runs and good passes. Eryk Williamson shouldered a lot of the creative load tonight and did a great job. He was active in the press and silky smooth on the ball. Man of the Match performance from him. Fogaca didn’t score, but was a huge part of the press. McGraw held the backline together and scored the only goal. He just keeps getting better and better each week. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Claudio Bravo looked incredibly rusty. We know how good he can be, so I’m willing to forgive a bad game in his first start of the season following an injury. Diego Chara was a great backline screen, but left a lot to be desired on the ball. That’s becoming a familiar theme for him this year. At this point in the season, Santiago Moreno is lacking confidence. Missing the latter part of the preseason looks like it was a detriment to him, even though securing a visa is very important. He did very well in the press, but looked miscast playing off Nathan as a striker. Zuparic and Larrys Mabiala were decent in possession, but once again were caught out of position on St. Louis’ eventual winner. Some of the blame for both goals can also be directed at Bingham. It doesn’t look like he has the full command of the backline and starting him over a healthy Ivacic was a terrible decision. 

That decision was, of course, made by Savarese. His two biggest gaffes tonight were giving Bingham the start and putting Niezgoda on the field for Evander. Instead of Niezgoda, who Timbers fans have already seen plenty of, why not try playing Diego Gutierrez in that spot? He was a center forward in college, and I don’t think he’s cut out for the wing. It is still a tie game at that point, so what do you have to lose? We don’t really know how truly good he is yet, as he has only come on for the last 5-10 minutes of each match this year. Injuries are a very unfortunate thing, but it does allow you to give players further down the depth chart more playing time. I would rather see a youngster than an ineffective striker at this point. Set piece defending was once again their downfall, and not giving Ivacic the start definitely played into that. I have already mentioned that I don’t believe Bingham has full control of the backline, and it led to sloppiness on St. Louis’ second goal. We saw the Timbers beat themselves last week in LA, and we didn’t need to see it again here tonight at home. It would be unfair to Savarese if I didn’t mention the press. It was the most effective tactic I saw from the Timbers in this game. More press, more chances, more goals. I think it needs to be implemented in every match from now on. 

Overall, it was a disappointing night at Providence Park. It was the second loss ever at home to an expansion club in the Timbers’ MLS history. There is going to be a lot of scrutiny leveled at Savarese for tonight’s performance, and while he deserves a good portion of it, sometimes it does come down to missed chances. Both were the culprits in tonight’s loss, which now has the Timbers sitting on 3 points through 3 matches. They will travel next week to face an Atlanta side fresh off a dominant 3-0 victory in Charlotte. Let’s hope they can scrap their way to a result. 

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