Portland Timbers 0, Houston Dynamo 5 - Match Recap & Highlights.

Timbers collapse, capitulate, and combust in Texas.

The Portland Timbers were absolutely decimated by the Dynamo on a hot night in Houston. The hosts earned a penalty three minutes into the game and never looked back, scoring three goals in nine minutes in the first half and adding two more before it was all said and done. Portland never even came remotely close to scoring, as the Timbers fell to their worst defeat in the Giovanni Savarese era.

Recap

Despite not playing an MLS match for over a month, Portland still had player availability concerns to contend with. Diego Chara was suspended due to yellow card accumulation, Zac McGraw was out due to illness, Marivn Loria was granted an excused absence for the imminent birth of his first child (congrats Marvin!), and Santiago Moreno was unavailable due to an ankle injury, according to head coach Giovanni Savarese.

To manage that, Gio handed newly acquired Bryan Acosta his first Timbers start in the midfield and Miguel Araujo

Media Credit: Portland Timbers

If you came into the match today with any positive hopes after Portland’s encouraging Leagues Cup performances… they were dashed within three minutes.

After a VAR review, Claudio Bravo was adjudged to have clipped the heel of Griffin Dorsey in the box, and Amine Bassi buried the following penalty. Nelson Quiñónes doubled the lead six minutes later after Portland’s defensive reactions were shockingly slow. And then Corey Baird made it 3-0 three minutes later as he chipped Aljaz Ivacic, after the entirety of Portland’s team was caught napping on a restart.

Portland’s first fifteen minutes of the game were an absolute nightmare. The Timbers let the Dyanmo essentially have their way with their midfield and defense, and the hosts were happy to oblige as they played the ball in, around, and through Portland’s lines.

The nightmare got worse in first-half stoppage-time, as the Dynamo scored their fourth after Franco Escobar dribbled through Portland’s defense and slotted home. Portland themselves never really got close to scoring at all, failing to record a shot on target through the entire first half.

After failing to show up for this game, the Timbers went into the halftime locker room deservedly trailing by four goals. To be frank, they deserved to be trailing by one or two more.

Despite a brief uptick in Portland’s play after the introduction of four halftime subs, Portland never found any sort of foothold or consolation in the game. Houston added a fifth goal via Brad Smith, and injury was literally added to insult as Jaroslaw Niezgoda went down with a serious-looking non-contact injury to his right hamstring or knee area.

As Jaro was the final substitution for the Timbers, they were unable to replace him and had to play the final fifteen minutes of the game down a man. Despite that, Portland surprisingly did not concede a sixth.

The whistle blew for full time with the Timbers falling 5-0 to the Houston Dynamo, marking a hugely disappointing return to MLS play for the stretch run.

Highlights

3’ PENALTY TO HOUSTON. Immediate calamity for the Timbers in the back as Bravo is adjudged to have clipped Griffin Dorsey’s heel in the Timbers box after a VAR review.

5’ Goal Houston 1-0. The Dynamo took an early lead via the penalty spot as Amine Bassi went right down the middle to beat Ivacic.

11’ Goal Houston 2-0. Portland’s bad start became far worse as Nelson Quiñónes doubled the hosts’ advantage with a full-volley finish. The Timbers defense couldn’t clear the immediate danger, collect the second ball, or mark Quiñónes in the box, and the Houston striker punished them for it.

14’ Goal Houston 3-0. And the worse start became completely disastrous as the Timbers conceded a third goal in nine minutes. This time it was Corey Baird, who chipped Ivacic after a passing move from the Dynamo where Portland just… didn’t move to defend? Like, at all?

41’ The hosts should have made the deficit four goals as Bassi missed a point-blank header, which he somehow sent wide.

45’+3 Goal Houston 4-0. The Dynamo did make it four a few minutes later. Franco Escobar dribbled right through the heart of Portland’s defense with alarming ease, and slotted home past Ivacic to pile on the pain.

The Timbers were absolutely abysmal in the first half, showing concerningly little organization, urgency, or fight in all areas on the field. Not only did Portland conceded four, they also didn’t even come close to scoring themselves, mustering zero shots on target and generating a paltry 0.1 expected goals in the first half.

46’ With very little left to lose, Portland made a four-pack of substitutions at halftime, as Felipe Mora, Eric Miller, Larrys Mabiala, and Sebastian Blanco replaced Franck Boli, Yimmi Chara, Claudio Bravo, and Darion Asprilla.

63’ Goal Houston 5-0. To heap on the misery, former Sounder Brad Smith was the next to score for the hosts, as he took a dip and chipped Ivacic to make it five goals for the Dynamo.

69’ Jaroslaw Niezgoda was subbed on for Juan Mosquera, but his time on the field was short-lived as he appeared to suffer a serious non-contact injury to his right hamstring or knee seconds after coming on. He left the field on a stretcher, and then was wheeled into the locker room in a wheelchair.

Without any remaining subs, the Timbers were forced to play the final fifteen minutes plus stoppage time of the second half with ten men.

Despite that fact, somehow the Timbers managed to not concede again in the match.

FULLTIME: Houston - 5, Portland - 0.

Final Thoughts

I genuinely was feeling a bit optimistic going into this game after the Leagues Cup break. The Timbers had shown more fight and spirit in their matches against the Liga MX sides earlier this month then they had shown all season, and I had a hunch that Portland would carry that into league play.

I was wrong. So, so, so wrong.

Portland’s performance tonight was inexplicable and inexcusable. After exiting the Leagues Cup, the Timbers had over two weeks to focus and prepare for the restart of MLS play. And they came out and did… that. The lack of cohesion, focus, and frankly interest was apparent everywhere across the field, and it was alarming to see a team whose season is circling the drain put up this kind of stinker.

That applies to both ends of the pitch, by the way. Of course conceding five goals is really bad, but Portland’s offense also remains absent and unaccounted for.

If Portland is to salvage anything from this campaign their quest to do so got off to pretty much the worst start it could. Their road to fight back up the table is now even steeper, and any kind of good vibes and momentum generated by recent games have been tossed right out the window. With time running out, it will take a complete reversal of form and general direction of this team for them to get back into the playoff picture.

And they might have to make serious changes to even have a chance.

We’ll see if Portland can muster something better next Saturday, when the Timbers host the Whitecaps at Providence Park at 7:30 p.m. PT.