Portland Timbers at FC Dallas: Instant Reaction
A tale as old as time down in the heart of Texas
The Portland Timbers fell to FC Dallas by a margin of 3-2 in a wild back and forth affair on Thursday night. Portland opened the scoring via Antony in the eighth minute, but FC Dallas come out storming in the second half and tallied two quick goals via Petar Musa and Nikosi Tafari. Portland scrapped an equalizer midway through the second half via star man Evander, but Dallas grabbed the winner late via an own goal.
Phil Neville rolled out a slightly rotated lineup for this match, featuring a midfield double-pivot of Cristhian Paredes and David Ayala and Jonathan Rodriguez up top as the starting striker.
The Timbers started the match brightly, nearly finding the back of the net just 16 seconds into the match. In the eighth minute, Portland deservedly found the opening goal via the foot of Antony.
Evander dropped deep to collect the ball, and then pinged an inch-perfect long ball over the top for Antony to run on to. The younger Brazilian sprinted past the Dallas defense, rounded the ‘keeper, and fired home into the bottom corner through the legs of Tafari to give Portland a lead.
The Burn woke up after conceding, and ratcheted up the pressure on Portland’s defense. The defense looked out of sorts at times, potentially due to the addition of the returning Miguel Araujo with Zac McGraw (and his new shiner) unavailable creating a new combination for the backline to adjust to. Regardless of the reason, Araujo’s partner Dario Zuparic was excellent on the night, and the combination of his timely interventions along with some timely saves from James Pantemis kept Portland’s noses ahead.
They could have been even farther ahead if they were more clinical with their finishing. Rodriguez in particular had two golden chances to double the lead in the first half, but his touch let him down at the crucial moment and he couldn’t score. Antony also had a great chance to play in attackers late in the first half, but he couldn’t find anybody with his pass.
Portland went into the locker room with the lead, and had the advantage in shots on target (3-0) and expected goals (1.05 - 0.34).
In the second half, Dallas came out flying. Portland was caught on the back foot as the hosts ramped up the aggression, and were punished when Dallas grabbed the equalizer in the 49th minute. Ayala lost the ball cheaply in midfield, and then after a few quick passes Musa slotted home past Pantemis.
The Timbers had their chances to go back in front, but once again poor finishing from Rodriguez — and some good defending from Tafari — doomed them.
Jona would finish the night with a 0.49 expected goals on four shots — but zero actual goals scored.
Portland’s ugly poor set piece defending reared it’s ugly head once again as they conceded a second goal to Dallas off a corner in the 61st minute. Tafari rose up over Claudio Bravo and headed the ball into the top corner past a frozen Pantemis.
But just two minutes later, Portland responded via their pair of dazzling Brazilians. Felipe Mora, who had just entered the match, laid the ball off for Evander who played in Antony on the run in behind. The younger Brazilian cut the ball back into the box to the elder Brazilian, and the newly minted MLS All-Star slid to power home Portland’s second goal to level the match.
A textbook Timbers counter put them in position to grab a rarity: a positive result in the home of FC Dallas. But Portland’s legs looked absolutely lead-laden in the second half, and they could never find a foothold. Dallas came after them in wave after wave, and were able to circumvent Portland’s midfield with concerning ease.
And thus, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that Dallas grabbed the winner in the 87th minute. Brian Kamungo sprinted past makeshift right back Diego Chara sent in a cross to the near post. Paredes challenged for the ball with Musa breathing down his neck, and the ball ricocheted off the Timbers’ midfielder’s head and into the back of the net.
Portland pressed for their second equalizer with all the time they had left, and with ten minutes added on at the end of the game it seemed like they had a shot to find it. They darned near did deep into stoppage time, when Evander sent a free kick pinging off the crossbar, and Nathan could not finish the follow-up.
Alas, when the final whistle sounded, the result was a tale we have been hearing so frequently over the years: the Timbers fell on the road to FC Dallas. The loss snapped a seven-game unbeaten run Portland had been building, and dropped them to sixth in the Western Conference.
For as much as I’m used to feeling disappointment in Frisco, this one hurt just a wee bit more. Portland was in this game, and in the first half were wholly the better side. Yes they withered in the second half, but this Timbers team proved that they have the capacity to overcome adversity and gut out results.
But it turns out you can’t do that when you waste numerous golden opportunities. Portland conceded the goals the lost them the game in the second half — but they didn’t score the goals that could have won them it in the first half.
As it stands, the Timbers are more effective with Felipe Mora as the starting striker rather than Jonathan Rodriguez. Jona’s runs are very smart and he deserves credit for getting into dangerous positions. But Pipe is just so much more lethal at the moment in front of goal and his hold-up play is so crucial for Portland’s build up — as it was for their equalizer.
The Timbers will need to lick their wounds quickly, as the games are coming thick and fast — and the table is as tight as ever.
Scoring Summary:
Portland: Antony (8’, assisted by Evander), Evander (63’ assisted by Antony),
Vancouver: Musa (49’), Tafari (61’), Paredes (OG, 87’)
Next Up:
Not much time to rest for the Timbers as they return to Providence Park on Sunday July 7 to face Nashville SC. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. PT
Chasing a game in TX in 93 plus doesn’t seem like much fun. I’ll still complain about JRod not hitting sitters. He’d have multiple braces and we would be burying teams but he contributes regardless. It seemed like Anthony reappeared for this one. I’d still like a goal scoring winger on the right side in the summer transfer but a young 9 would help the depth.
I feel like Aspreesha would have gotten us a result late. JRod seems much more comfortable at left forward. I can often sense when a goal against is about to happen, but when the defenders are giving 10 yards of space from midfield to the box and allowing uncontested passes / crosses, it becomes a flashing neon sign. I'd like us to get a scrappy defender with an off-the-charts workrate as a late-game sub and occasional starter if nothing else.