It was a tale of two halves for the Portland Timbers on Friday night against the Houston Dynamo. The first 45 minutes was a half that will haunt some Timbers fans dreams as they recall the struggles that plagued the Timbers through much of the first half of the 2014 season. The second half will give those same fans hope that this season will be different from 2014, when Portland just barely missed out on making the playoffs.
Timbers vs Dynamo: Valiant Comeback or Familiar Mistakes for Portland?
Portland dominated the early stages of the game, controlling possession for most of the first 35 minutes and generating more and better chances on goal. Rodney Wallace put an open chance into the side netting when he really should have done better, and Tyler Deric denied Lucas Melano on perhaps the best chance of the first 40 minutes. Diego Valeri forced a turnover and was played in by Darlington Nagbe, leading to a Valeri cross which Melano put on frame only to be denied by Deric.
Just a few minutes later Houston opened through Boniek Garcia after Liam Ridgewell’s poor clearance. Timbers goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey could perhaps have done better, but he was pretty much left to do it all on his own after Ridgewell’s mistake. These were familiar mistakes for Portland, and mistakes like that haunted the Timbers early in 2014 and where a big part of the reason Ridgewell was brought in.
Just before the half, another mistake, this time poor positional discipline by Will Johnson and Jorge Villafana, left Ridgewell on an island, and when he stepped up to pressure the oncoming Brad Davis, Davis found a wide open Will Bruin who didn’t miss his chance.
Again, these kinds of mistakes, especially at home, caused major problems last season for Portland. As the Timbers begin a stretch of challenging games in the race for the playoffs, such mistakes will be costly, and indeed, dropping two points at home against a team the Timbers should be beating, could prove costly.
The second half was much improved, though it still took over half an hour for the Timbers to break through. Portland controlled possession for almost the entire half, and outshot the Dynamo eight to five over the final 45 minutes. Still though, Timbers fans might have concerns about how long it took to finally break through.
After numerous chances were turned away for fell through at the last pass or shot, Darlington Nagbe broke through with a run from midfield, playing a one-two with Villafana as he entered the box wide open for the finish.
Melano, playing on the wing after Fanendo Adi entered the game in the 57th minute, equalized late off a Will Johnson ball into the box which Melano flicked into the far corner to beat Deric. Portland could have won the game moments later but Adi put the ball into the side netting.
It will be chances like Adi’s, and a number of other misses the Timbers had, as well as the early defensive mistakes, that the Timbers will need to clean up in their coming stretch of games. Portland showed for long stretches of Friday’s game that they have talent at many positions and the ability to dominate games and create numerous chances. It will be their ability to finish those chances and also maintain defensive discipline even in the attack that will decide if how they finish this season. Playing in front of the always lively Timbers Army at Providence Park, Portland will not be an easy out in the playoffs if they clean up their mistakes and are more clinical. But, if their mistakes of 2014 come back, they could miss the playoffs altogether.
