Timbers eek out 1-0 win on delayed opening night

An early goal by Juan David Mosquera gave the Portland Timbers a nervy 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City to open the 2023 MLS regular season.

The match was supposed to start on Saturday night, but Portland snow delayed the kickoff until Monday. The Timbers wasted no time getting started.

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Mosquera, who only appeared in three matches for Portland at the end of last season, pressured not one but two defenders before receiving a pass from Yimmi Chará and squeezing a shot past John Pulskamp in the sixth minute.

This followed a horrendous back-pass by SKC defender Robert Voloder, which Jarosław Niezgoda and Marvin Loría couldn’t finish.

Giovanni Savarese’s 69th career Timbers win was not the prettiest. Portland struggled to get the ball to their playmakers in the final third, especially club-record signing Evander.

The much-maligned forward Niezgoda had just eight touches in the entire first half. He was replaced by Nathan Fogaça with half an hour to play, and the young Brazilian provided more energy, if nothing else.

Portland’s starting XI included a handful of surprises, most notably Justin Rasmussen starting over Claudio Bravo (hamstring), David Bingham over Aljaz Ivacic (hand), and Loría over Santiago Moreno — who would join the match in the 32nd minute after an apparent hamstring injury to Yimmi Chará.

(Savarese said Yimmi would be out for “a matter of weeks.” All indications point to a pulled hamstring, though that is unconfirmed.)

Kansas City were without Johnny Russell, who was out with a hamstring injury. Forward Alan Pulido is still out after missing all of last season.

Who stood out for the Timbers?

Bingham made four saves — all from inside the box — but Portland were still fortunate not to concede. SKC missed three point-blank headers near the six-yard box, and their 1.13 expected goals meant nothing by the end of the night.

Zac McGraw started alongside Dario Zuparic after former fan favorite Bill Tuiloma was traded to Charlotte FC a few days before the season. McGraw won 5/5 ground duels and 6/8 aerial duels to go along with two blocked shots.

The Timbers largely shut down Sporting KC frontman William Agada, who scored eight goals in just 10 starts after joining last season.

Captain Diego Chará and Eryk Williamson looked like a solid duo in Portland’s midfield. Williamson pushed forward to create a 4-3-3 with him-Diego-Evander in the middle.

Last but certainly not least, Mosquera put in a Man of the Match performance. His stellar defensive effort shut down SKC’s preferred left-side attack with Erik Thommy and Dániel Sallói, and his goal obviously made the numerical difference in the match.

How did Evander look?

Portland splashed a reported $10 million on midfielder Evander from FC Midtjylland, but the Brazilian playmaker struggled to find his footing in his first competitive Timbers match.

Evander progressed the ball well at times and nearly drew a penalty in the second half, but grew frustrated when he didn’t get the ball in the final third.

What did the Timbers struggle with?

Portland struggled mightily to clear their lines in the second half. Moreno and Rasmussen in particular frequently gave the ball away while trying to pass out of the back.

Set-piece defending was a frequent topic of discussion in 2022, and Portland continued their struggles with that in the first game of 2023. Each of SKC’s 11 corner kicks provided nervous energy for the home fans, as well as a few other set pieces.

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