Who Made the Sunshine?

(Cover photo credit to Ray Terrill)

Giovanni Savarese entered tonight without a single loss to the Columbus Crew on his resume. He left the stadium tonight with a full heart and another win over the Ohio club. 

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The Timbers started the game with a lot of energy, which was the perfect way to counter Columbus’ style. However, the Crew still had the better chances. That didn’t stop Dairon Asprilla, who scored two goals in three minutes to give the Timbers a 2-0 lead. In first half stoppage time, Lucas Zelarayan grabbed a goal back for the visitors.  

The second half defined this game. Giovanni Savarese made a triple substitution at the 61st minute, which saw Yimmi Chara, Felipe Mora, and Sebastian Blanco enter the pitch. 4 minutes later, Lucas Zelarayan scored a banger from the top of the box to tie the game at 2. But the Timbers didn’t back down. Sebastian Blanco scored in the 80th minute to give the Timbers the lead. They wouldn’t surrender that advantage. Portland stayed strong, fought back, and captured 3 points at home.

Tonight’s game doesn’t need a statistical breakdown (although I will do one). Some moments can be told as a narrative without the need for silly numbers. 

`If you’ve been a regular at Timbers games, you’ve definitely seen this flag before. The massive white banner being flown back and forth anytime the match called for it. The sun standing behind the face of El Rey, Diego Valeri. Sebastian Blanco knew what had to happen tonight. There is no more sacred moment in any match than the 80th minute. The Army puts their scarves up and begins to sing “You Are My Sunshine” as a tribute to Timber Jim’s daughter. Any goal scored in the 80th minute is known as a sunshine goal. Valeri’s return coincided with a blazing hot day, where the sun became the enemy of anyone who was sitting in any section that it touched. But by the 80th minute, it was gone. The heat remained, but the star that made it had set, ready to rise another day. But it didn’t wait until tomorrow morning. Sebastian Blanco brought the sun back. On the day that honored one of his best friends, he had to do something special. Odds are, he will be the next man to join Valeri in the Ring of Honor (Diego Chara is immortal). It was his first league goal of the season, and there was no better time to score it. In the post-game press conference, he relayed to us reporters that he almost cried during Valeri’s halftime ceremony. He then went on to call tonight an “old-school” match. In his words: “Dairon scored. I scored. Diego got a yellow card.” When the sun was so close to setting on our season, he helped bring it back. That’s another legendary match at Civic Stadium. 

Moving on to the numbers, the Timbers managed to snatch a win in a match where the data largely went against them. Columbus is a good team. They play really pretty soccer. But the Timbers took their opportunities, squandered some, and picked up 3 points when they needed it the most. Let’s get the negatives out of the way first so we can end on the high note that tonight deserves. 

Passing still is a weak point. The total pass accuracy number was 74.2%. The Timbers did really well with short passes, but they continue to struggle in the final third. It’s still due to not finding the correct passes to make. If the team can focus more on decision-making in the final third, the pass accuracy numbers will climb. The Timbers did concede two goals tonight, and I’m kind of torn on whose fault it really was. What I will say is the Timbers definitely have a keeper battle on their hands. David Bingham and Aljaz Ivacic both have different strengths. Bingham is more confident in coming off his line and using his box, and Ivacic is a better pure shot-stopper. I honestly can’t say which one I would like in net more, but the Timbers’ “solid but not solid” backline leads me to believe that a keeper who is more comfortable in the box would be better for the team. I think this places more pressure on Ivacic to become better off his line. He’s better at saving shots, but he tends to be way too willing to stay on his line and trust his reflexes. I don’t have a problem with Bingham starting, and I also notice more communication from him. He’s very vocal and does a pretty good job commanding the backline. I don’t notice a ton of that from Ivacic. Either keeper starting is fine by me, but they are definitely closer to each other in 2023 than they were last year. 

The middle ground is found in the counterattacks. Franck Boli played a ball-and-a-half in for Asprilla on the Timbers’ second goal. If the Timbers could execute like that on every counter, they would be fine. Another notable counter came in the 86th minute. Blanco found Mora, who then found Yimmi Chara. Yimmi’s finish was the bad part. Apparently it hit off the crossbar, but that shot should always find the back of the net. Most of the Timbers’ counters continue to die before the key pass is played. I touched on that in my Colorado recap, but the same issues are still present. They need to work on decision-making in the final third, and there’s nothing else I can say on the subject. Santiago Moreno wasn’t a part of the squad, but Savarese said that he should be back in training soon. He explained that it wasn’t really discipline, but just a consequence of breaking the team rules. I think the whole saga was blown out of proportion, and it was mostly Santi’s fault for doing that. I’m willing to let him learn from his mistake and come back to the team. Pretty sure the squad feels the same way. 

The positives tonight came from the energy. The team knew how special tonight was and played their asses off. They now need to ride this energy for the rest of the season. Especially in road games. In the face of serious adversity, they rose to the occasion. I previously described this match as a “Cancel game.” The season is far from canceled now. 

 (I am once again leaving out the Rapids. They are in 14th place on 19 points for reference.)

We have now reached the Leagues Cup break. This is how the Western Conference looks. As you can see, it is wide open. The Timbers have played 23 matches and are 3 points out of 9th. None of these teams really scare me. We have played St. Louis twice, LAFC are stumbling, Seattle is a bad team that masquerades as a good one, and every team from Austin down is beatable. I think that RSL will end the season on top of the West, by the way. They made the necessary investment this summer to keep their squad trending upward. You might also notice that they are the only team without a loss in their past five matches. In a middling Western Conference, any one of these teams can make the playoffs (except Colorado). The Timbers, meanwhile, have all the momentum going into a difficult but winnable Leagues Cup group. With the healthiest squad they have had all year, the Timbers are now positioned to reverse the ills of the previous five months. Matches like tonight can do a whole lot of good. 

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