Portland Timbers 3, Sporting Kansas City 3 - Instant Reaction

A poor first half and a wild fightback in the second earns Portland a point on the road.

The Portland Timbers fought back from a 3-0 halftime deficit to earn a 3-3 draw in Kansas City on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Sporting KC stormed out to a three-goal lead via a brace from Willy Agada and a goal from Dany Rosero, but in the second ha;f the Timbers found three goals of their own from Evander (PK), Felipe Mora, and Eric Miller to win a point on the road.

Photo Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers

Before the match started, Phil Neville made a bold call with benching Diego Chara. The Timbers captain was one of the parties at fault for Vancouver’s opening goal last weekend, and also just celebrated his 38th birthday. Neville started David Ayala in the stead of the Godfather, and Evander was handed the captain’s armband. With Zac McGraw out with a head injury, Miguel Araujo got the nod next to Kamal Miller in defense.

Media Credit: Portland Timbers FC

A fast-paced opening of the game saw Portland force Tim Melia into two saves, but it was the home side who struck first in the 13th minute. The Timbers cleared an attack, but Sporting’s counter-press quickly won them the ball back. Willy Agada fired off a shot from range that took a deflection on the way in, and it pinged off the underside of the crossbar and into the back of the net.

Once again, the Timbers were doomed by a moment of switching off defensively. Once again, a decent opening was canceled out by that moment. And once again — for the fifth game in a row — the Timbers found themselves behind early.

And so yet again, Portland had to chase the game. But despite the changes to the midfield, the Timbers still couldn’t figure out how to progress the ball. The Timbers couldn’t hang onto possession and generate any kind of flow offensively.

Sporting’s counter-press specifically was giving Portland fits. The Timbers actually did a decent job defensively to win the ball back, but they would lose it seconds later as SKC immediately pressed them and won it back themselves.

And that would be the pattern that would lead to Sporting’s second goal. The home side’s counter-press won the ball back, and in the ensuing corner kick Dany Rosero beat Maxime Crepeau to the ball and headed it home with authority to double the hosts’ advantage.

As the first half ticked away, you’d might have been thinking it couldn’t get much worse for the Timbers. And unfortunately dear reader, I must inform you that you would have been mistaken.

In first half stoppage time, poor set piece defending bit the Timbers yet again, as Robert Voloder headed a free kick across the face of goal for Agada to easily tap in for his second. No Timbers player was even in the same area code as Agada or Voloder, as it was once again all too easy for Sporting.

Portland went into the locker room down 3-0, after a wholly uninspiring and disappointing performance in a game where they so desperately needed a good one. It simply was not good enough at both ends of the pitch, with horrid set piece defending being the biggest source of shame.

Phil Neville brought on Felipe Mora and Claudio Bravo — making his return from injury — for Santiago Moreno and Juan Mosquera at halftime in the hopes of sparking his side into some kind of response.

The response eventually came — but not before it nearly got even worse for the Timbers. Sporting earned a penalty kick in the 60th minute after Bravo clattered into Erik Thommy right on the edge of the box. But Agada pulled his penalty wide, saving the Timbers further blushes.

That miss would loom large, as what followed was an all-time Timbers comeback.

Minutes after Sporting missed their penalty, the Timbers would earn one themselves. Mora was clattered into in the box, and Evander stepped to the spot. The Brazilian sent Melia the wrong way and slotted his penalty kick home in the bottom corner to cut the deficit to two.

The Timbers weren’t done, as four minutes later the partnership of Rodriguez and Mora paid dividends yet again. Antony whipped in a great ball for Jona on the wing, who laid it off for Mora in front of goal. Pipe redirected the ball towards goal, and it just trickled over the line to cut the deficit to just one.

Portland kept pushing, and in the 81st minute they completed the comeback. Cristhian Paredes had a long-range header pushed away by Tim Melia, and Eric Miller found himself in the perfect spot to redirect the ball home. It was E. Miller’s first ever goal in MLS, and it tied affairs at 3-3.

The Timbers still pushed for a winner, as did Sporting Kansas City. But neither side could find the final breakthrough. After ten minutes of stoppage time, the final whistle blew with the points shared.

The Portland Timbers earned that point with a much more improved second half performance, with Antony and Rodriguez standing out as the highlights. But my goodness what a hole they dug themselves in that first half. Incredulously, I’m left wondering what could have been if Portland’s set piece defending was better and they didn’t gift Sporting multiple goals in the opening frame.

Nonetheless, Portland will come away from the game feeling the better of the two sides, and the losing streak is over. But the Timbers are still searching for their first win since early March, and Phil Neville still has plenty to fix.

Scoring Summary

Portland: Evander (64’ PK), Mora (68’), E. Miller (81’)

Kansas City: Agada (13’, 45’+4) Rosero (38’)

Next Up:

Portland returns home next weekend for their lone home game until mid-May. They face LAFC in a matinee at Providence Park on April 13, with kickoff set for 1:45 p.m. PT.