Sporting Kansas City 3- Portland Timbers 0
All of a sudden, the once mighty Timbers are now posting their third consecutive loss. Suddenly perfection is turning sour! That is soccer and every match is a learning experience, as stated by Giovanni Savarese in his post-match interview in KPDX 750 AM radio.
Once again his squad suffering a tale of turnovers and seeing the home squad rise to the occasion. This match was supposed to be a tough one but looking forward of netting a point. However, whenever the Portland squad plays SKC these always exercise a very stingy and troublesome defensive game against the Rose City squad.
Why did the Portland squad showed in its entire initial eleven signs of exhaustion? Defensively so far the Timbers have yield seven goals in two matches. In addition, of exposing a feeble defensive game that once was the contributor in their notable streak.
This comes after the home side striker Diego Rubio scored a double in the first half and Johnny Russell delivered the go-ahead goals. Despite the Chilean’s two goals, earlier in the match his squad was very vocal in looking to find the way to open up the score. In spite of Portland early minutes of the first half dominance, suddenly became all SKC with 70 percent of control and 11 shots at goal over just one for Portland. Despite that there was a lone opportunity in the 12th minute by Samuel Armenteros whose shot hit the bar. Another David Guzman provided their other token chance just before the end of the half but was also unsuccessful.
Still the afternoon belonged to a momentum-stricken Sporting, who netted their third consecutive win. That is of course opposite of Portland, who has not lost three in a row. Savarese, to no one’s surprise, used a 3-5-2 formation saw many notable faces in his starting lineup. Savarese started Marco Farfan, Cristhian Paredes and Andres Flores and left Alvas Powell, Sebastian Blanco and Diego Chara on the bench a fundamental shift from recent matches.
The move seemed to stem from Savarese wanting to have the element of surprise on a Sporting side that is well known for their traditional gameplan. However, this bold move did not work out. Still nothing was negative with Jeff Attinella once again stepping out and making a whopping seven saves. While it was certainly a tough day at the office, it wasn’t a complete wash for the Timbers.
The challenge now for the Timbers and Savarese is figuring out how to put this poor run of form behind them. Now he has to focus in rearrange his group and return the confidence in his squad game. They get the chance to go back home next week, which should help their chances. The problem is that match is against the Seattle Sounders, their hated for from Cascadia and a side just below them in the MLS Cup Playoff standings. The Timbers are going to face another heavy contest looking where they will look forward to netting three golden points and stop this senseless slump.
Goals
Diego Rubio SKC (28’ and 37’) and Johnny Russell SKC (89’)
Highlight
For Giovanni Savarese showing off his all-around boldness in his starting initial eleven. With his starting, eleven using the likes of Cristhian Paredes, Andres Flores and Marco Farfan instead of Sebastian Blanco, Diego Chara and Alvas Powell.
In addition, of seeing another notable performance by Jeff Attinella in need of seeing his defensive backfield not delivering, the big man so far has delivered and prevented a far worse rout over his squad.
Next Match
The Cascadia Derby, the Portland Timbers (10-6-7, 37 points) vs Seattle Sounders (10-9-5, 35 points) Providence Park, Portland, Oregon August 26, 2018 6:30 PM PST/ 9:30 PM EST
Sporting Kansas City
Portland
