The Portland Timbers’ home woes continue to plague them, this time with a 3-2 loss to a re-energized LA Galaxy. Manager Guillermo Barros Schelotto has uplifted his team to a place that resembles their glory days, with a renewed energy and mentality.
Wednesday’s loss against Tinsel Town was filled with many positive aspects to the game, in a night of surprises but also filled with controversies that could have been game-changers.
Timbers manager Giovanni Savarese decided to take a gamble and substitute his whole starting eleven.
By sending his B-team onto the field, he took a heavy risk and was actually fairly pleased by the results. However, the rally fell short of the objective. Though they seemed to take a twist for the better, they could not tie the match.
Controversy never seems to escape the Rose City and in the 80th minute, the linesman disallowed a goal that could have been the difference for the Portland Timbers.
Jeremy Ebobisse was called offside in the 80th minute and the goal was called off. If it would have stood, I can’t help thinking about how it could have led to a draw and a share of much-needed points for the Green and Gold.
On a positive note, the late substitutions made a huge difference, almost making a turnaround in the second half. Unfortunately, the Rose City side has allowed a whopping 10 goals, despite playing as a local.
There’s a long way to go to make it into the postseason, but the team needs to step up their defensive game and stop allowing scores both early in the game and late in the game. Their defensive backfield needs to become more bunkered.
These results are forcing many in the Timbers organization to work harder and missing a shot at the postseason, in the end, will be an experience to build on for next season, as many changes are to be made. Among those is to ramp up their defense with new faces if possible.
Nothing was a loss in the end for Diego Valeri, the Timbers Talisman who continues to inscribe his name in gold with tonight’s score as he reaches 80 goals and 80 assists. He continues to lift the Rose City name up high!
I don’t doubt this game will give Gio some food for thought in the remainder of the season, as he will have to come up with a strategy to leave Century Link Field with three golden points against the Seattle Sounders on Sunday.
Goals
Efrain Alvarez 15’ LAG, Cristian Pavon 50’ LAG, Felipe Mora 67’ PTFC, Joe Corona 71’, Diego Valeri 90+2 PTFC
Highlights
Felipe Mora scoring his second goal and becoming a valuable piece in Gio’s attack
Diego Valeri scoring as a substitute to put the game within one goal
Marco Farfan had his moments, he can really reach his potential by being dynamic
Renzo Zambrano serving the assist to Felipe Mora first goal of the game
The arrival of Sebastian Blanco, Jeremy Ebobisse, Yimmi Chara, and Diego Valeri almost delivered
Yimmi Chara becoming an important game-changer and tonight the man was on the ball
Sebastian Blanco efforts almost paid off with a couple of shoots plus an assist
Today’s lineup change deliver a clear message to many starters as team B doing the job
Diego Valeri inscribing his name in gold in MLS royalty with scoring his 80th goals along 80 assists
Not bad days work for the Timbers starting eleven, despite the loss exposes their potential
Man of the Match
Felipe Mora
Portland Timbers
