Portland Timbers at Real Salt Lake: Recap & Reaction

A six-goal saga in Sandy

The Portland Timbers battled back — twice — to earn a draw at Real Salt Lake courtesy of a 3-3 final score. Salt Lake got goals from Dominik Marczuk, Diego Luna, and Diogo Goncalves, but tallies from Antony, Evander, and Jonathan Rodriguez earned the Timbers a hard-fought point on the road.

With the schedule crunch hitting the Timbers hard, Phil Neville opted to rotate his squad in Sandy. Jonathan Rodriguez and Diego Chara started on the bench, while Eryk Williamson and Antony were handed starts. With Dario Zuparic suspended due to yellow card suspension, Kamal Miller slid inside to partner Miguel Araujo at centerback, with Claudio Bravo returning to the lineup at left back.

A sleepy opening ten minutes of the game seemed to favor the Timbers, as they looked to be in control in thwarting RSL’s attacking moves. But nobody seemed to have told the Timbers backline that, because they were all out of sorts for the match’s opening goal.

First, Anderson Julio blew past the entire Timbers backline, and the right side of the defense was slow to respond and recover. Then, Claudio Bravo misjudged a cross from Anderson Julio, and the ball sailed over him and was collected by Dominik Marczuk. The Argentinian defender made a mess of his recovery too, never quite setting his feet right. Marczuk was happy to take advantage, as he easily sent Bravo the wrong way and slotted home past Maxime Crepeau to give the hosts an early lead in the tenth minute.

As it was to start the game, the Timbers looked like they were ready to respond. What followed the goal was Portland’s first forays forward and first looks on goal. But, once again just as it was at the start the game, what followed that was Salt Lake scoring.

A through ball from Julio took a deflection off of Miguel Araujo, and Crepeau darted off his line. Rather than dive on it he chose to kick the ball away — right to a wide open Diego Luna in the center of the box. Luna powered home the ball into the back of the net, and after a lengthy VAR review the goal was awarded.

A promising-ish opening to the match very rapidly gave way to probably the worst case scenario for the Timbers: trailing by two goals on the road at altitude in their third game in a week — all before the half hour mark.

Still, Portland was able to maintain their eagerness to attack in the first half, but none of their attacking sequences really threatened RSL’s goal. The defense didn’t look much better: the hosts thought they had grabbed a third goal via an audacious Julio chip, but it was correctly ruled out by an offside call.

That call didn’t stop Phil Neville from giving his team an earful though. The Timbers’ coach was up out of his seat and barking what I can only assume were words we cannot repeat in this blog, directed towards his team’s incredibly lackluster showing in the opening frame.

At halftime, RSL held the advantage in shots (5-3), shots on goal (3-1), expected goals (1.6-0.1), and of course, goals scored (2-0).

At the start of the second half, Neville expressed his frustration at the backline in the form of a substitution, bringing on Eric Miller for Bravo.

It didn’t do much to stem RSL’s attack at the start of the second half though, as the first five minutes of the second half was a virtual shooting gallery for the Salt Lake attackers. Fortunately none of the attempts found the back of the net, but it was not the start to the half that any Timbers fan wanted to see.

It wasn’t the start the coaching staff wanted either. They made a triple sub just five minutes into the second half, bringing on Mason Toye, Jonathan Rodriguez, and Cristhian Paredes for Felipe Mora, Sanitago Moreno, and David Ayala.

To compound matters, the Timbers then let their frustration show as several players were shown yellow cards for outbursts and fouls that could be argued were only borderline card-worthy. Among them was Evander, who will be suspended for Portland’s next match at Vancouver due to yellow card accumulation.

It looked like the game was about to go off the rails for the Timbers — and so of course they scored to get themselves back in it.

Juan Mosquera won a corner kick for the Timbers in the 62nd minute — just their second of the game. Evander whipped in a ball that E. Miller dove for, and his header fell to the feet of Antony and an RSL defender. Antony won the scrap, and managed to just dink a slow shot past Gavin Beavers and halve the deficit for Portland.

As soon as it was 2-1, the game flipped on its head. Real Salt Lake seemed shell-shocked and were knocked back on their heels, and the Timbers suddenly had the bit between their teeth. Portland found space out wide that had been nonexistent earlier in the match, and Mosqeura and Portland’s fresh attackers were happy to take advantage of it.

That verve culminated in the 76th minute. Paredes was fouled in the attacking third, and Evander stepped up to the ball. You knew what was coming, Evander knew what was coming, everyone knew what was coming — and nobody could stop it. The Magic Man blasted an inch perfect free kick on frame, and it pinged off the cross bar and into the back of the net, with Beavers rooted to the spot.

The latest piece of magic from the MVP candidate leveled the match, and brought Portland all the way back from their dismal first half performance to what appeared to be a priceless point on the road.

But then, it what felt like the cruelest twist in the tale, the game flipped yet again. RSL threw everything and the kitchen sink at the Timbers in a desperate bid to snag a third goal, and it paid off in the 90th minute. Summer transfer Diogo Goncalves thought he had grabbed the winner when he hit a long-range worm-burner past Crepeau and into the bottom corner to put the hosts back on top.

But again: he only thought.

In second half stoppage time, Portland attacked down their right side. Antony held the ball up in the corner before playing it back to the underlapping Miguel Araujo (yes — Miguel Araujo). The centerback hit an absolutely beauty of a looping cross (yes — Miguel Araujo) to the far post, and a streaking in Jonathan Rodriguez dove to power it home with his head, beating Beavers and leveling the match once again for the Timbers.

With the home crowd stunned the nine minutes of stoppage time ticked away, and then the final whistle blew. Coming back from deficits twice — a two goal deficit and then a one goal deficit — the Timbers had managed to reverse the worst case scenario and steal a point at Real Salt Lake.

Goals — POR: Antony (62’), Evander (76’), Rodriguez (90’+2) // RSL: Marczuk (10’), Luna (22’), Goncalves (90’)

Up Next: The Timbers get a much needed normal week, as they prepare for a trip to Canada to face the Vancouver Whitecaps on September 28. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

Reaction

So… who saw that one coming?

I sure didn’t, especially after that first half. Portland looked about as bad as they’ve been all year in the opening forty-five. The defense seemed to be complete strangers to each other, the attack was disjointed and plodding, and Portland did not look to have the intensity necessary to grab a result. 2-0 was a deserved deficit, and it could have been worse.

That performance made the second half all the more surprising. Seemingly out of nowhere, the Timbers conjured the drive, intensity, and lethality that have become synonymous with this team in 2024. And it needs to be said: Phil Neville sparked that change.

Almost every substitution that Neville made was spot on, and helped to win Portland the point. The gaffer deserves credit, and his squad deserves credit for showing incredible grit to get themselves off of the mat twice.

This team needs to address the inconsistencies in their performance when the postseason rolls around, especially if they find themselves in the play-in game. But for one night, we saw Portland show a fight on the road that we haven’t seen in many months. And in a crowded Western Conference, that point won could be massive when we reach the finish line.