Trusted, Believed, and Delivered
Since April 27th’s victory in Carson, road games have been the site of utter horrors for the Portland Timbers. When they traveled to Los Angeles on a sunny Friday evening, many thought it would be more of the same. But the Portland Timbers did not oblige the haters. In a trademark 1-0 victory, Portland triumphed with a complete performance to boot.
Recap
This game felt different from the opening whistle. Not only were the Timbers in control with the ball, but their movement off the ball was the best I’ve seen all year. Right after the kickoff, a beautiful combination between Santiago Moreno, Felipe Mora, and David Da Costa ended with Cristhian Paredes sending a shot wide left. Portland continued to be on the front foot (ON THE ROAD) for the entirety of the first half, and they held LAFC to jack squat. The best “chance” that the hosts had in the first half was a Javairo Dilrosun cross to no one in the 32nd minute. Meanwhile, Portland wasn’t creating anything massive, but they were threatening whenever they were on the ball. The breakthrough came with the final action of the first half. Ian Smith’s corner kick delivery found the head of a leaping Paredes, whose header to the far post hit the woodwork and bounced into LAFC’s invisible net. Right after the goal, the halftime whistle blew. In an instant, the Timbers went from a very good first half to a downright outstanding one. Not only did they deserve the goal, they scored it at the perfect time and from the phase of play that they needed one the most.
If the first half was about control with the ball, the second half was about control without it. It didn’t take long for LAFC to create a humongous chance. In the 55th minute, Denis Bouanga played a slip pass for Artem Smoliakov, and the resulting cutback cross was in a perfect spot for Nathan Ordaz. However, Maxime Crepeau read the play the entire way, and snuffed out Ordaz’s point-blank chance. Smith cleared the loose ball, and David Ayala won a crucial 50/50 at the top of the box to nullify the threat. Portland’s best open play chances in the second half came on the counterattack. Da Costa played a cutback ball to Mora in the 59th minute, but the resulting shot sailed over the crossbar. Four minutes later, Portuguese Dave had the ball again on the edge of the box. He cut inside and shot towards the far post; forcing Hugo Lloris to make a terrific save. In the 78th minute, the most spectacular moment of the match occurred. Ryan Hollingshead nodded a diagonal ball into the center of the box, and center back Kenneth Nielsen (making his MLS debut) attempted a bicycle kick. The shot took a deflection off of Finn Surman, but Crepeau made an incredible reaction save with his right hand to push the ball out of harm’s way. In the 89th minute, LAFC had a free-kick opportunity from just outside the box. Bouanga’s shot sailed into the 3252, who were still in full voice. And to drive the point home with the last action of the game, David Ayala put a crunching tackle on Bouanga to seal the victory. 3 points, a clean sheet, and a signature win for the 2025 Timbers.
A GOAL FROM A CORNER KICK!
You know what that means! Let’s look at some screenshots.
Context is needed before we get to the goal. Portland’s first corner kick of the game occurred in the 20th minute.
The broadcast camera doesn’t pan out to catch the entire view of the box until after Moreno delivers the ball. So this is the best angle I can provide for you. I’m going to spoil the result before I go any further: this delivery gets headed out of bounds by Nkosi Tafari and the Timbers get another corner but from the opposite end of the pitch. That’s not important. What is important is how the players were lined up. The center of the six yard box was completely vacated, with cream-colored shirts occupying the far post area. I made a mental note of this, because it’s an unfamiliar setup for this team. Usually there are a couple of big bodies in the center of the box. Not during this instance, but I liked the idea behind it. Use the momentum from a running start to provide more power on the aerial contact. But when the goal is scored, the Timbers are back in their usual set-piece formation.
The big boys (Kamal Miller and Finn Surman) are in the six-yard box. So is Felipe Mora. He’s very important on this play, but I’m gonna get to him later. Jimer Fory and David Ayala, two more aerial threats, are at the back post. The goalscorer is completely unmarked around the penalty spot. Two LAFC defenders are guarding the path of entry for the cross.
Smith has just delivered the cross, and it’s absolutely perfect. It’s heading right for Paredes. However, before it can get there, two major things have to happen. Mora has to provide a screen for Nielsen and Fory has to occupy Smoliakov’s attention to distract from the wide-open Paredes.
Both of those conditions have been met by the time Paredes is in position to make a play on the ball. LAFC’s zonal marking has left the perfect amount of space for the Paraguayan to attack the cross. That’s key. Paredes doesn’t wait for the cross to come to him. He takes a slight step back and jumps into the header rather than straight up in the air. That slight movement allows Paredes to exponentially increase the amount of power he can put on the header. Sure enough, it works to perfection. Tafari is the closest defender that can actually make a play on the ball, and he can’t do it. It’s not his fault though. The zonal marking scheme is the true culprit. No LAFC defender had a chance to get to this ball before Paredes. Portland’s scheme was perfectly designed to exploit this. And, in theory, it won them the game.
“Like They Were In Rondos”
I mentioned Portland’s off-ball movement earlier, but the way they were moving in the first half was exceptional. After the game, Neville provided some insight: “I wanted them to play every ball short. I wanted to play like it was a five-a-side or like they were in rondos. I wanted it to be a possession for us. And I think it gives them the confidence to go out there and play their game.”
The Timbers usually have a set-in-stone warmup sequence. First the kick-around begins, with players usually pairing up or forming a little group. The Colombian Corner prominently features during this event, with all the Colombians forming a neat square, pentagon, triangle, or whatever shape fits the amount of Colombians on the pitch. In previous years, the pentagon could be observed with both Chara brothers, Dairon Asprilla, Santiago Moreno, and Juan Mosquera off on the side. Then the starters and bench players split up. While the starters are stretching, the bench players do a rondo. But today, the starters did something different. Usually the starters split into two teams with the central midfielders wearing a 3rd color of pennie (Is that how it’s spelled? You know, the little jerseys that go on top of the other jerseys?) and a possession game ensues. However, prior to tonight’s outing, the starters engaged in a fluid passing and movement exercise. Body feints, one-touch passing, and slick movement were all on display. I’ve never seen that in a pre-game warmup before. And guess what? It carried over onto the pitch.
During the first half, Portland was fluid off the ball. Against an inexperienced backline, Portland’s constant rotations consistently unsettled LAFC’s defensive unit. This included the likes of Igor Jesus, who was constantly caught out of position when he roamed forward to press Portland’s backline. The Timbers passed around, over, and through LAFC’s midfield and defense today. With a little bit more quality, it could’ve turned into some brilliant chances and goals. But that’s also due to the numerical disadvantage that Portland had in this game. 3 attackers against 4 defenders was usually going to be a losing battle unless the wingbacks could get forward. But when those wingbacks did charge up the pitch, Portland’s constantly shifting front line kept opening space. On another day, they would’ve exploited it to the fullest extent of their ability. But they didn’t exactly screw up either. A confusing attacking performance to process, but a healthy ratio of good to bad.
The Frustration of Denis Bouanga
The main story, however, is what happened when Finn Surman got back on the team plane and emptied his pockets. A deeply frustrated Denis Bouanga was held hostage by Surman and Portland’s backline all night. This wasn’t due to a lack of effort from the Gabonese superstar either. He spent the entirety of the first half testing Portland’s defense with nothing to show for it. On the left, he was dominated by Surman. So he’d swap positions with Nathan Ordaz and try to attack centrally. However, he couldn’t escape the giant Kiwi. His impatience and anger boiled over in the 57th minute, when he went to ground in the box. However, the man who demands to be taken seriously (Final Countdown begins to play) was met with utter indifference from center referee Armando Villareal. Not today, Denis Dastardly. Not this time.
By forcing Bouanga to become more and more desperate as his frustration levels increased, the Timbers effectively won the mental battle as well as the actual game. Bouanga, by the way, played in the All-Star Game on Wednesday. It’s been a long week for him. But you do have to give him credit (non-derogatory). Despite whatever exhaustion he must have been feeling, he tried his hardest to change the game like he always does. But he was trapped on Finnegan’s Island (I’ve never seen the show so this might not be accurate to the plot but I like it so I’m putting it in here). Bouanga’s 2025 season is eerily similar to Luciano Acosta’s 2024. He is the true difference-maker in the attack with no one else on his team occupying his solar system. Surman provided the soccer version of a solar eclipse tonight. There’s no other way to put it.
Player Ratings
Maxime Crepeau: 10
The Great Wall of Montreal lived up to his name tonight by putting in his best performance as a Timber. However, what strikes me the most from this game was the pure aura of his press conference. He used to play for LAFC, you know. But he doesn’t want to talk about it. He’d rather praise his teammates for the incredible shifts that they put in. Technically, his performance was just as important as Paredes’ goal. As a member of the leadership committee, he is uniquely placed to be a centerpiece for this team. The trilingual Canadian answered questions in Spanish and English today, but he often speaks French in the locker room. Put him in a Dos Equis commercial. He’s the most interesting man in the world, and he’s an incredible goalkeeper to boot. Since coming back from the Gold Cup, he’s left no doubt as to who the number one goalkeeper in Portland is.
Finn Surman: 10
Dear God, y’all. Denis Bouanga regularly torches fullbacks who have comparable pace to the rapid Gabonese winger. I have never seen a CENTER BACK contain Bouanga like Surman has over both of Portland’s games against LAFC this year. You have to understand that foreign clubs will look at this game and immediately begin to put feelers out. It’s not a matter of if Surman gets sold, it’s when. Either way, whichever team that signs him will have a healthy fanbase in the Pacific Northwest. He must be appreciated while he’s still here. That departure isn’t coming soon either. My prediction? Next summer. But for now, savor performances like these. Portland’s gem of a center back (both on and off the pitch) is the best young defender in the league. And saying that isn’t hyperbolic at all.
Kamal Miller: 9
The level of comfort exhibited by Miller in his first start after missing the last two games was incredible. In the center of the back three, the Canadian was able to play to his strengths: vocal leadership and calmness on the ball. In the 11th minute, Dilrosun was making a diagonal run across Portland’s backline. No pass arrived, but I witnessed Miller communicate with Jimer Fory about picking up the Dutchman’s run. That’s the stuff I love to see. An excellent bounce-back following a dismal outing in St. Louis two weeks ago. And credit is due to the coaching staff, who put him in the best possible place to succeed.
Jimer Fory: 9
Going off that last point, the last two games have seen Fory play on the left side of a back three. I posed this idea a few weeks ago in the Timber Review Discord (go join if you haven’t already) when it became clear that Miller’s lack of speed in wide areas was a disadvantage that opposition teams were targeting. In each of these games, Fory’s speed has been an asset. Now when the Timbers line up in a back three, they can put Surman and Fory on the outside and let them go to work in wide areas. Since his second yellow card suspension, Fory has been doing an excellent job at finding the balance between reckless and controlled aggression. The best example is a 48th-minute tackle on Dilrosun in the box (Apple still won’t let me clip things by the way). It’s a showcase in proper physicality without being too aggressive. Those yellow cards were Fory’s biggest weakness in the first half of the season. Tonight was his fourth straight game without a booking, tying his longest streak of the season. By the way, I think it’s really fitting that he’s wearing 27. Dairon Asprilla would play anywhere if it helped the team. Pretty sure Fory fits that mold as well.
Juan Mosquera: 7.1
This could be lower, but I thought Mosquera’s off-ball movement in the first half opened a lot of space. However, he also received the ball in a lot of space and didn’t do a lot with it. It was probably the weakest performance from a starter in this game, but was it really that bad? No it wasn’t.
Ian Smith: 9
I’d like to start this one off with an apology.
Last week, I derided the “Smudge” nickname and tried to install “The Pioneer” as Smith’s moniker. However, Maxime Crepeau (the most interesting man in the world) referred to him as “Smudge” in the post-game press conference, so I have to defer to him. That doesn’t make “The Pioneer” an obsolete nickname though.
Besides being the mascot of Smith’s collegiate soccer team, Smudge is pioneering something in Portland: he’s the most impactful first-year defender from the draft in Timbers history. Sure, the Timbers have been successful in the draft before (Darlington Nagbe and Jeremy Ebobisse [WHO STILL HASN’T SCORED AGAINST THE PORTLAND TIMBERS, BY THE WAY] being the obvious examples) but none of their drafted defenders have had as big of an impact in Year 1 as Ian Smith. Ironically, their most successful defender draftee is Aaron Long, who would’ve played for LAFC tonight if he didn’t tear his Achilles against Dallas two weeks ago. Long never played a single competitive minute for the Timbers before Seattle picked him up and fumbled him off to the Red Bulls, where he became a Best XI-caliber center back. Zac McGraw is the most successful drafted defender who actually played for the Timbers, but it took him a couple of seasons to earn a starting role. Last week, I argued that Smith was undroppable. After watching his performance tonight, I’m sure that you’re saying the same thing. My favorite Smudge moment from this game was his 66th-minute encounter with Ryan Hollingshead. A veteran player who knows all the tricks to the game (basically LAFC’s Nouhou except he doesn’t throw balls at fans and can actually attack), Smith shoved Hollingshead and the experienced American fell to the ground while looking for a foul. Smudge immediately gestured at him to get up. Priceless. You know what else is priceless? That corner kick delivery. LORDY.
David Ayala: 9.5
Ayala just misses out on a 10 because I wanted him to score that chested volley in the 45th minute. However, the save that Hugo Lloris was forced to make turned into the game-winning corner kick. That’s cool! On a night that was stolen by Crepeau and Surman’s heroics, Ayala did all of the dirty work in between. Chara-esque, I must say. Between his numerous diagonal passes to his final erasure of Bouanga, it’s another complete David Ayala performance. Sign the contract extension, please.
CRISTHIAN PAREDES: 10
Maybe this rating is slightly hyperbolic, but the continually underrated Paredes (I’m guilty of this too) is back in the starting lineup and is making Portland’s midfield a lot tougher to play through. His defensive instincts are top-notch, and I’ve loved seeing his partnership with Ayala develop over the past two seasons. As the second-most senior member of the squad, his experience with the league shines through every time he gets on the pitch. Tonight, he scored his 11th goal for the Timbers, and his 4th against LAFC. “LA is a great team, and that always motivates us,” the Paraguayan said after the game. The Black-and-Gold certainly motivate him, that’s for sure.
Santiago Moreno: 8.5
No goal involvements, but dear LORD Moreno was a menace. From the opening whistle, he was flying around the pitch and dribbling through hard challenges. If these kinds of performances become consistent, he’s one of the best players in the league. However, he still needs to add that consistency to his game. I will be appreciating the combination of flair and grit he exhibited tonight.
David Da Costa: 8.5
It’s been a rough week for Portuguese Dave. After getting scratched from the lineup against RSL, he missed the draw against Minnesota. Because he was still hurt, he got an exception from the league (YOU NEED AN EXCEPTION, MR. I’M BIGGER THAN THE LEAGUE) to miss the All-Star Game. He really wanted to go to the All-Star Game (UNLIKE SOME PEOPLE WHO COULDN’T EVEN VACATE THEIR SPOTS IN AN ORDERLY MANNER TO ALLOW REPLACEMENTS TO BE NAMED), so I’m gutted for him. He made his return from injury tonight in style, with several excellent runs, passes, and that 64th-minute curler that forced Lloris into a full stretch. Like Moreno, he was fantastic even without a goal involvement.
Felipe Mora: 7.9
Mora’s hold-up play was excellent, but I’d like to talk about a moment in the 60th minute that the broadcast cameras didn’t catch. I’m extremely pissed that they didn’t, because it looked like Mora bent space and time when he took a touch to beat a defender and find Da Costa in the open field. The broadcast takes a full minute to show multiple angles of Crepeau’s point-blank save on Ordaz so they don’t even show that Mora is the reason why Da Costa is charging towards the LAFC box. I will never see that play again. But let me tell you, it was otherworldly. I can’t even describe it. It’s like my eyes were refusing to believe what they were seeing. I need to find that clip again. It’s now my holy grail. The sequence ended with a cutback ball from Da Costa to Mora, who skied it over the goal with his weak foot. That’s not great, but the sheer magic of the play to set up the creation of the chance blew my mind. If you are reading this, and you were also in attendance, could you tell me if you saw what I saw? I need to know whether or not it was real and not some hallucination born out of sleep deprivation (more on that later).
Kevin Kelsy: 7
Kelsy’s best moment came in defense, when he took a point-blank Mark Delgado cross to the face in the 4th minute of second-half stoppage time. Outside of that, he did his job by occupying LAFC’s center backs as the hammer to Mora’s first half anvil. Imagine defending for 75 minutes and a gangly Venezuelan is coming off the bench to terrorize you. This week’s submission for the “Feed Kelsy” agenda: a moment in the 87th minute where Kelsy is motioning to Mosquera that he’s going to make a run in behind but doesn’t receive an entry ball. Disappointing to not see that early cross played.
Ariel Lassiter: A Shift
He won the ball, he lost the ball, and he put in a good effort. Not much else needs to be said. Good job.
Diego Chara: 8
On this pitch last year, Diego Chara made his 377th appearance for the Portland Timbers. It set the all-time appearance record for one club for field players in MLS. Chara was shown a second yellow card in that game and got sent off. Tonight, he entered the pitch and locked down the win. 2 dribbles and 4 ground duels won. An excellent performance from the club captain from the bench, again.
Omir Fernandez: A Shift
Acting as the primary outlet in the final 10 minutes of game time, Fernandez didn’t impact the game like he did last weekend. But he did pretty well! Just nothing too notable.
Eric Miller: 7.5
This rating is entirely derived from Mr. Reliable’s tackle on Bouanga in the first minute of stoppage time. It was an excellent bit of defending.
Coach Rating: 10
How much credit do I give to the coaching staff for the players properly executing the game plan (Neville’s words, not mine)? Well, since the players did properly execute (his words again) I can firmly approve of the way Neville set up the team for tonight’s game. Every sub was good, and the off-ball movement in the final third is my main attacking takeaway. The decision to keep Fory and Surman as outside center backs paid dividends as well. And they found a winner from a set piece after diagnosing LAFC’s weaknesses from dead balls. Well coached, well played, well earned.
Table Time
The table will not look like this when the Timbers play their next game. The majority of MLS teams are playing tomorrow (well, today actually, if you’re reading this on the day it gets published [which you absolutely will be]). But this is the last game before a two-week break for Leagues Cup commences. It’s no longer the drawn-out one-month affair it has been for the past two years. Regular season games will be back in no time, and a trip to Dallas is on the cards for the Timbers on August 9th. Before then, the Timbers will play Atletico San Luis and Queretaro at home, before traveling to Austin to face Club America. But as of right now, they will enter Leagues Cup holding onto 5th place (at least). Only a catastrophic Seattle defeat in Atlanta will allow the Timbers to climb into the top four again. But tonight’s result should have a huge impact in the end-of-year standings, just like the 3-3 draw back in April. For the first time since 2021, the Timbers haven’t lost to LAFC in regular season play. 2021 is also the only other time that has happened. Portland won their series with LAFC in 2025, with a victory at BMO Stadium being the deciding result. Outstanding.
Final Whistle
To piggyback off that last point, this is the first year that the Timbers beat both of the LA teams on the road in the regular season. That’s also very cool!
For all you underlying numbers enjoyers out there, the Timbers only created 0.39 xG against a team with a patched-together backline. Ironically, the supposed “weakest link” was probably LAFC’s best player tonight. However, with many people (including Neville) saying that this was the team’s best performance of the season, I think it’s time to take off the green-and-gold glasses for just a second.
Prior to tonight’s game, LAFC had only tasted defeat twice at BMO Stadium all year. Vancouver and Austin are the only other teams to defeat the mighty Black-and-Gold at their fortress. In both of those games, the visitors scored first. So did the Timbers. I think tonight’s game is the best possible performance when the absences are taken into account. They’re lacking the thrill of Antony on the ball? They’re lacking the box presence of Jonathan Rodriguez? Sure, there have been games when the Timbers created more chances and scored more goals. And they’ve won those games too. But this was the first sign in a while of momentum traveling with the team. They picked up right where they left off against Minnesota.
TANGENT: Story Time
Here’s where tonight’s story takes a personal turn. Since I began writing for Cascadia FC back in 2023, I’ve made it a point to travel to a handful of away games each season. Last year, I went to Seattle and Salt Lake City. Those are the two easiest road trips for me because Seattle is local and SLC doesn’t require a rental car. But this year, I decided to expand my horizons. Tonight’s trip was the first big travel game I’ve done. And before I could settle in my seat in the pressbox tonight, Los Angeles gave me a familiar welcome.
For some reason, catastrophe strikes whenever I have a trip planned to go to LA. When I was a kid, I went to Disneyland twice. I had the worst fever I’ve ever suffered on the first trip, and a debilitating ear infection on the second trip. Safe to say that I don’t like Disneyland that much. In 2019, I planned another trip but my wallet and phone were shipped along with my work bag to Seattle in a workplace mishap at one of my old jobs two weeks before I was scheduled to leave. I still went, and I had a great time. I’m not going to get into the 2020 trip mishap because it’s too long of a story to tell here. In 2021, I made a reservation at a hotel but the booking didn’t get confirmed and I had to sleep in my car. And in my pure arrogance and disregard for the curse that this city has for me, I booked a trip to cover tonight’s game. The spirit of Los Angeles laughed at me once again, for I had no idea what was lying in store.
Two and a half weeks ago, a metal container door slammed on my right middle finger at work. With a very particular sleep schedule because I work nights, I went to bed in the morning with two bandages wrapped around my swollen and bleeding finger after icing it for a decent amount of time. I hoped that this would be enough to stave off medical attention, but I awoke to the same amount of swelling and pain. After going to two urgent cares and getting turned away for different reasons, I ended up in the emergency room hoping for an x-ray. Thankfully, no bones were broken, but the injury was serious enough to require a splint and some enforced time away from my job. Worker’s comp is one of those things that sounds so great in theory, but the sheer amount of paperwork is enough to make you want to roll yourself in bubble wrap before clocking in. While I dealt with the actual injury, the fallout from the injury, and continuing to do my job for this website, it hadn’t hit me yet. I didn’t even think that this was a Los Angeles catastrophe. But as time went on, and my finger slowly began to heal, I began to put the puzzle pieces together. Finally, today dawned. Well, for me, it dawned at 10:30 PM on Thursday night. With a 6:45 AM flight on my calendar and my adjusted body clock comfortable with waking hours during the night, I stayed awake until I left for the airport at 3:15 AM. The drive to the airport and getting through security was routine, and I planned the trip so I could sleep once I got to the hotel around 9:30 AM.
The first true warning sign (besides the splint on my finger) was the sheer amount of shops that weren’t open at 4 AM in PDX. Only some coffee carts had employees, and the Jamba Juice in Concourse E that I usually frequent (coffee dream machine is so underrated) was completely roped off for some reason. After grabbing two pastries and a bad coffee from another shop, I settled into my gate and waited for boarding to begin. Everything was moving like clockwork until the aircraft pulled back from the gate and the engines weren’t turning on. As I sat on the tarmac, the familiar feeling began to kick in again: it’s the spirit of Los Angeles trying to f*** with me again. Seated next to me were two older women from New Orleans who had just completed an 11-day West Coast excursion on Highway 101 from Los Angeles to Portland. They were ready to go home after a self-described “wonderful” vacation to a place that they hadn’t been to before. “It’s beautiful out here,” they told me. As someone who takes the beauty of the Pacific Northwest for granted, I reminded myself that I live in the best place in the country. Other people come here to experience the wonders of Oregon, from the high desert to the Gorge to the beach to the mountains. Finally, in the midst of our conversation, the pilot got on the loudspeaker. Pilots talk in the same way that doctors write; you can’t understand s*** and need a translator. After some confusion and only being able to make out the word “engine” on the announcement, a much clearer voice from a flight attendant informed the passengers that the plane had a bad engine starter and needed to return to the gate. Two more hours would pass before the same plane (with a new starter) would take off for Los Angeles.
The two women next to me were stressed. Both of them were making a connecting flight to New Orleans from LA and were leaving it until the last minute to see if they could make the final leg of their journey home. As I got up to get off the plane, I turned to them and profusely apologized. “This is only happening because I’m going to Los Angeles,” I said in a half-kidding tone. They chuckled because they thought I wasn’t being serious. But I knew that LA had more for me in store than just a miraculously (doctor’s words, not mine) unbroken (but still very painful) finger. The City of Angels was going to keep testing me, no matter what.
The plane took off two hours later, with the two women still on the flight and sitting next to me. They didn’t change their original itinerary, and were gambling with the probability of making their flight across another terminal with 15 minutes of time between landing and takeoff. They had to try, no matter what. However, I was expecting to be asleep already, so I was pretty tired. The initial flight was completely full, but about half the plane had emptied by the time that the reboarded aircraft was ready to take off. The entire row in front of me was empty; a dream for a man craving some rest on an airplane. I decided to make my move when the fasten seat belt sign was turned off since I was in an optimal position to claim the available territory. However, before the flight reached cruising altitude, two opportunistic travelers made their way forward and took the spot that I was eagerly watching since the aircraft door closed. The same guy who snuck into the North End for MLS Cup couldn’t move up one row of an airplane with the fasten seat belt sign on. Air travel; the epitome of lawlessness. How the mighty have fallen.
Sleep wasn’t an option, so I bided time by ranting online (normal behavior) about the impact of Lionel Messi on MLS in the wake of his All-Star no-show and resulting suspension. Meanwhile, for the two ladies next to me, it became clear that their connecting flight was going to depart without them. Prior to this realization, I made a promise to block off the aisle so they could get off the plane first. If my day wasn’t going as planned (with the most important part still yet to come) I could at least help them in their quest to get home as soon as possible. The plane landed, and finally parked at the gate after spending 20 minutes on the tarmac. In that time, both of my new acquaintances had their flights automatically rebooked. No problem; they’d just have to spend a couple of extra hours at LAX. But I had to get on my horse as soon as the aircraft door opened and run to the rental car shuttle.
Sleep was the only thing on my mind, and I watched two shuttles depart as I showed up to the platform. Los Angeles just wouldn’t stop messing with me. Finally, after getting to my hotel around 1:30, I was allowed to check in just after 2. Two and a half hours of sleep followed before I got in my car (forgetting my splint on the bathroom counter in my hotel room in the process, don’t let my doctor see this) and braved the Friday night LA traffic from Inglewood to Exposition Park. Once I sat in my assigned press box seat, I felt relieved. The hard part was over, I thought to myself. Now I just have to watch a soccer game.
I don’t want to take any credit for the outcome of this game. But after all of the nonsense the city of Los Angeles has thrown at me over the years, tonight’s result is more fulfilling than even I thought once the final whistle blew. Now, this could be a completely nonsensical sidebar from a guy on two-and-a-half hours of sleep in the middle of what should be a soccer blog, or it could be a bigger representation of what the Timbers went through tonight. But guess what? It does relate to tonight’s game!
Final Whistle: The Conclusion
Neville’s main emphasis throughout his coaching tenure has been mentality. At Providence Park, the Timbers are usually confident and free-flowing. On the road, they crumble and crack. Tonight, they went into the toughest (statistically, LAFC have only lost 18 home games in their entire existence since 2018) road environment in MLS and walked away with all 3 points. And they did it by getting all the little things right and expressing themselves in the same way that they do at Providence Park. When the Timbers made deep playoff runs in 2015 and 2018, they rose above the occasion away from home. Neville said that tonight was like a playoff game in terms of intensity. “I thought that they executed the gameplan as good as they’ve executed the gameplan all season. They trusted it, they believed it, and they delivered it.”
No matter what, you have to trust, believe, and deliver the gameplan. Every single kind of misfortune can occur, from the airport to the pitch. The Portland Timbers were just as confident in their ability to win tonight’s game as I was in my ability to be there to witness it.
Portland’s schedule doesn’t get any easier after this. Most of their remaining games are against their top-four rivals or are trips to Texas. But after the game, Crepeau had a message for the Timbers that he delivered in the same stadium where he broke his leg in a MLS Cup Final: “We’ve set a standard away from home tonight that we can’t fall below.”
The climb continues.
