Portland Timbers @ Minnesota United - Instant Match Reaction
Old habits die hard in the midwest.
After winning for their first game in over two months on Wednesday night against the San Jose Earthquakes, the it was more of the same old 2024 Timbers against Minnesota United, losing 2-1 in St. Paul after taking a 1-0 lead into halftime.
Phil Neville once again opted for a back three after its success midweek, but changed the look ever-so-slightly from a 3-4-3 to a 3-4-1-2, bringing Jonathan Rodriguez back into the starting XI next to Felipe Mora, and bringing in a third central midfielder instead of the two-winger approach against San Jose.
Jonathan Rodriguez got the Timbers off to the perfect start in the match, opening the scoring in the 17th minute with a 1v1 finish against Dayne St. Clair off of a wonderful assist from David Ayala. Rodriguez now has three goals, one assist, and a drawn penalty in his last three matches, and has come into form after a slow start to life in Portland.
Minnesota thought they had won a penalty when Kamal Miller and Bongokuhle Hlongwane came together in the box (Maybe just Kyndra de St. Aubin), but it was never a penalty. Kamal used his strength to cleanly muscle Hlongwane off the ball.
Juan Mosquera had an excellent chance to double the lead in similar fashion to Rodriguez’s opener, getting a free run on St. Clair in the 39th minute after a quick through-ball from Paredes sent him off to the races. But the Canadian shot-stopper held his ground to save Mosquera’s effort.
Rodriguez had another golden opportunity to give the Timbers breathing room in the final moments of the first half, latching on to defensive mistake from Minnesota’s backline to go 1v1 with St. Clair, but again the Loons’ ‘keeper used every inch of his frame to head the attempt away 35 yards from his net.
Despite their chances, the Timbers only took a one-goal lead into halftime. Foreshadowing folks!
Felipe Mora had the Timbers’ third huge opportunity to take a two-goal lead in the 50th minute after a flick-on from Rodriguez, but the usually pin-point Chilean striker lifted his attempt on to the crossbar and still the score remained 1-0.
The Timbers’ luck finally ran out in the 65th minute through substitute Robin Lod, who made a darting run into the box and lifted a finish easily over Max Crepeau to equalize. Dario Zuparic, Juan Mosquera, and Miguel Araujo all played a negative factor in the buildup to the goal, offering too much space to Minnesota’s attackers and reacting too slowly to their usage of the ball.
Minnesota were then awarded a penalty in the 67th minute when Araujo was judged to have fouled Joseph Rosales in the box after Teemu Pukki “won” the ball off of Zuparic. But after a lengthy VAR review, common sense prevailed when Pukki’s foul on Zuparic was finally recognized. Furthermore, I’m not even sure Araujo’s tackle was a foul at all.
But Minnesota would go on to complete the comeback in the 82nd minute through Jeong Sang-Bin after a sweeping Minnesota move tore through Portland’s backline. Two passes was all it took to render most of Portland’s defense useless, and Sang-Bin was all alone in the area to apply the finishing blow.
Miguel Tapias was shown a second yellow in the first minute of second-half stoppage, but it was too little too late for Portland to recreate their midweek comeback heroics, despite numerous chances for Nathan Fogaca at the end of the match.
Final score: Minnesota United 2 - Portland Timbers 1
Scoring Summary:
Portland: Rodriguez (17’, Ayala)
Minnesota: Lod (65’, Rosales), Sang-Bin (82’, Lod)
Cards:
Portland: Rodriguez (42’), Evander (44’), Chara (67’), Araujo (67’), Asprilla (82’)
Minnesota: Tapias (42’, Red 90+1’), Sang-Bin (90+8’), Trapp (90+13’)
Subs:
Portland: Eric Miller (Felipe Mora), Diego Chara (Cristhian Paredes), Antony (David Ayala), Nathan (Miguel Araujo), Eryk Williamson (Dairon Asprilla)
Minnesota: Lod (Harvey, Sang-Bin (Fragapane), Oluwaseyi (Hlongwane), Arriaga (Clark), Taylor (Pukki)
Next Up:
The Timbers are back at home against Sporting Kansas City on Saturday, May 25, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. PT at Providence Park. The Timbers and SKC played to a thrilling 3-3 draw in Kansas City back in their previous meeting on April 7.
Still not great but I'll focus on some bright spots.
-Three in the back seems to be working better than four. Not perfect, but better and we someone in defense to be organizing the back line and holding the line accountable. If someone steps up to be that leader I think we'll see improvement.
-Jona had some bite that we haven't seen prime Seba. We need more of that from the team.
I mean it was “more of the same” in one way - a few brief defensive lapses led to goals against.
But aside from that this was a totally different team than I’ve seen lately. For the most part (not 100.0% of course but for the most part), tonight the Timbers looked and played like they actually wanted to be there. Like they cared. Like they gave a flying F about winning.
And I’ll take that over what we’ve seen most of the season so far.