The Philadelphia Union came ready to play and delivered a serious blow to the Portland Timbers with a spectacular early goal by Daniel Gazdag just five minutes in the game. In the second half just three minutes in, midfielder Sergio Santos extended the lead for the visitors.
Somehow in the stats, the Timbers had the upper advantage in possession over the Union, but in the end, the visitors played a smarter game with a defensive gem, that was enough to come up big with the win.
However, when Giovanni Savarese brought Marvin Loria and Larrys Mabiala in the second half for Cristhian Paredes and Justin Rasmussen, the Timbers game had turned around for the better. Followed by David Ayala coming for Josecarlos Van Rankin, the game tone changed for the Timbers, with more attacking options and pressuring the Union.
In the 69th minute, Union Keeper Andrew Blake denied Santiago Moreno’s shot, but Sebastian Blanco on the rebound scored and pulled his team to within a goal. Unfortunately, it’s when the game official went to consult VAR and disallowed the goal due to Moreno being offside.
Still, the Portland Timbers had their chances and those were met by a stellar and opportune Andrew Blake making the best efforts to deny the home team any opportunity to score and pull at least within a goal.
The frustrations continued to mount for the Portland side with several notable players injured, Eryk Williamson was substituted by Santiago Moreno with an injury in the 15th minute along with Dario Zuparic having to come out late leaving the Timbers with ten men on the pitch.
Despite the idea of Gio making several moves and increasing the pressure on Andrew Blake, in the end, the Philadelphia keeper rose to the occasion and showed off his skills denying the Timbers what could be at least a couple of equalizers.
Despite a couple of shots by Timbers midfielder Yimmi Chara in the 86th minute and later Bill Tuiloma, Blake denied both of them and preserved his clean sheet for a meritorious 2-0 win on the road.
This win puts the Philadelphia Union (6-1-6 24 points) atop the Eastern Conference and the Portland Timbers (3-3-5-6, 15 points) are still in tenth place with just a point lead over the eleventh place the San Jose Quakes.
Goals
Daniel Gazdag 5’ PHI, Sergio Santos 48’ PHI
Men of the Match
Bill Tuiloma
Portland Timbers
Philadelphia Union
