Match Recap: Portland Timbers @ Real Salt Lake

Repeat after me: Clean sheets on the road + winning at home = playoffs.

Photo Credit: Portland Timbers

The Portland Timbers earned their second consecutive clean sheet, a 0-0 road draw away to Real Salt Lake on Wednesday evening. After a sloppy first half the Timbers created plenty of chances in the second, but heavy legs and poor finishing meant the Timbers would have to settle for just the one point.

Lineups & Prematch

Due to a heavily congested stretch of fixtures in May, Phil Neville was forced into making changes as the Timbers took the pitch for the fourth time in 12 days. Jimer Fory, Zac McGraw, and James Pantemis all remained out having missed time the last two weeks, but Jonathan Rodriguez and Diego Chara were healthy enough to return to the bench. David Ayala and Finn Surman were rested for the first time in MLS play this season, meaning first starts of the season for both Cristhian Paredes and Dario Zuparic. Kevin Kelsy got the nod up top with Felipe Mora available off the bench.

Starting XI: Crepeau, Bravo, Miller, Zuparic, Mosquera, Paredes, Ortiz, Antony, Da Costa, Moreno, Kelsy // Bench: Muse, Miller, Surman, Ayala, Fernandez, Chara, Lassiter, Mora, Rodriguez

Match Recap & Storyline

First 25’ — RSL dominated possession to open the match using Diego Luna as an outlet to spring attacks as the Timbers tried to get up to the game’s speed. Joao Ortiz looked shaky in possession of the ball, but had several excellent moments tracking runners and winning the ball off of them. Despite being out in the cold to start the season Dario Zuparic slotted back into the defense seamlessly, winning a few aerial duels against RSL’s target man Ariath Piol. Santi Moreno came closest to scoring for the Timbers with a shifty spin move past Alex Katranis, but his shot rippled the side-netting. Kevin Kelsy drew a yellow card against RSL center-back Bode Hidalgo after using his body to feint around him against the sideline.

Halftime: RSL 0 - 0 Timbers

If you offered Phil Neville the opportunity to head into a midweek road match in Sandy, UT tied at 0-0 before a derby clash against Seattle three days later, I think he’d have ripped your hand off. Neither side created too many clear-cut chances, negating each other with solid defensive play.

47’ Crossbar, RSL — Cristhian Paredes was booked for a foul against Diogo Goncalves in a dangerous area. Diego Luna stepped up to the dead ball and whipped a venemous strike onto the crossbar, a warning shot for the visitors.

52’ Shot, Timbers — David da Costa received the ball from Claudio Bravo on the left wing, and after some shifty moves, squared it back to Cristhian Paredes on the edge of the 18-yard-box. Unfortunately, Paredes’ strike had far to much lift on it and sailed over the crossbar.

54’ Shot, Timbers — Santi Moreno picked the ball up in RSL’s half in acres of space before sliding an inch-perfect ball into Antony’s darting run behind. Antony cut back onto his right, but got the finish all wrong with a large amount of the net to aim at.

61’ Substitutions — Phil Neville went to his bench right on the hour mark, signaling a planned switch to rest Antony and Joao Ortiz having played heavy minutes over the last week-and-a-half. You can do worse than bringing on Diego Chara and Jonathan Rodriguez.

65’ Shot, Timbers — Rodriguez wasted no time getting in on the action, drawing a yellow card against former Timbers draft pick Noel Caliskan that set up a free-kick for David da Costa to take on the corner of the box. But like every other chance the Timbers created throughout the match, his shot was wide of the target.

72’ Substitutions, Timbers — Kevin Kelsy had a very 20-year-old showing, holding on to the ball instead of passing and struggling to impact the match. David da Costa was involved in a lot of what the Timbers were doing going forward, but couldn’t find the end-product. Neville brought both off for Jonathan Rodriguez and Omir Fernandez.

79’ Substitution, Timbers — Neville’s final switch of the night was to bring Santi Moreno off for Ariel Lassiter. Moreno looked pretty dangerous, but was dropping deep to get on the ball too often to make an impact at the business end of the pitch.

89’ Major Chance, Timbers — The Timbers had three separate bites at the apple, but neither Jonathan Rodriguez nor Omir Fernandez could squeeze the ball past Cabral and the RSL backline. Rodriguez was found by Bravo with a curved ball into the box but was denied after taking a touch and shot. The ball then fell to the feet of Fernandez, whose first attempt was blocked, bounced back to him, and then on second attempt cleared off the line.

Full time: RSL 0 - 0 Timbers

It was definitely not the most enjoyable match of all-time, but the Timbers did what they needed to do to get a clean sheet, and point on the road against another Western Conference rival. The cherry on top was key starters getting significant rest and the whole team coming out of the match unscathed.

Did they have a huge opportunity to steal all three points at the death? Absolutely. Did I ever feel like they were in jeopardy of leaving with none? Absolutely not. That statement in itself is a marked improvement on the wild 3-3 draw the Timbers and RSL played out last season.

Paredes and Ortiz looked strong in midfield, as did Zuparic and Miller in front of Crepeau. The same can’t be said for Portland’s forward line, who looked very tired, and very sloppy with their few chances.

Up next? The biggest match of every season — Timbers vs. Sounders at Providence Park, kickoff set for 6:30 p.m. PT on Saturday, May 17. Be there or be square.