It seems like there’s no middle ground for the Portland Timbers these days. The team either plays fantastically, as they did this past Sunday in a 4-1 victory over rival Seattle Sounders, or they play quite badly, as they did in a Wednesday night 2-0 loss to Real Salt Lake which saw the Timbers eliminated from U.S. Open Cup play.
Playing on the road against RSL, the Timbers conceded two second half goals, after a first half in which they allowed zero shots on target, as they fell 2-0 in their Round of 16 matchup. The Timbers saw early goal called back on a questionable offside call after a beautiful buildup and combination play from Gaston Fernandez and Maxi Urruti. The Timbers had another good chance turned away in the 15th minute as Urruti put a long range effort on goal, but RSL goalkeeper Jeff Attinella, doing his best Nick Rimando impression, was able to make the diving save to keep the scores level.
After that early push, the Timbers rarely threatened the RSL goal and couldn’t seem to get much of a flow going with the ball, preventing them from putting sustained pressure on RSL. Sebastian Jaime opened the scoring for RSL in the 54th minute, and Javier Morales converted a penalty kick in the 71st minute to complete the scoring.
For the Timbers and their fans the loss will be especially disappointing as this was likely their best chance at a trophy and a CONCACAF Champions League berth this season. Having already defeated the reigning U.S Open Cup Champions Seattle Sounders, it could be argued the toughest test was already over. However, the Timbers chose to rest a number of key players, leaving Darlington Nagbe, Will Johnson, and Diego Chara out of the 18, and they clearly paid for this in their inability to maintain useful possession.
With RSL also missing a number of key players through injury or otherwise, Wednesday should have been a chance for the Timbers to pick up a key win on the road. A win would have allowed them to advance to the USOC quarterfinals and (FINALLY) host a USOC game in the semi-finals after six straight road games in the tournament against MLS opponents.
Instead, the Timbers head home, where they’ll face San Jose this weekend, hoping to keep their recent positive push alive in MLS play and continue to move up the Western Conference standings.
Main Photo by Shaun Clark/Getty Images
