PORTLAND, OR. – Portland Timbers hosted Colorado Rapids and Kellyn Acosta on Wednesday night. It was the second to last matchday of the 2020 MLS regular season.
Kellyn Acosta Goal Gives Rapids a win in Portland and Playoff Berth
Colorado had more of the ball and more chances in the first half. Portland however, had more of the open play. They stayed compact in a midblock and played direct in transition.
The best chance for the Timbers came 11 minutes in. Eryk Williamson, who started as a forward, got upfield. He tried to play Cristhian Paredes in on goal, but Danny Wilson was there to intercept and play the ball back to goalkeeper William Yarbrough.
Colorado’s best opportunity came a minute later. Some great passing ending in an Andre Shinyashiki volley. It was at a good angle, but he put the ball over the bar.
VAR got involved on 16 minutes. Diego Rubio tried to control a pass to him in the box. He misplayed it forward to center back Bill Tuiloma. The ball went off the defender’s right leg, up into the air, and hit his arm.
Joseph Dickerson initially called a penalty. After looking at the replay monitor, he ruled there was no penalty.
Except for the above offences, it is not an offence if the ball touches a player’s hand/arm:
• directly from the player’s own head or body (including the foot)
— Andrew Wiebe (@andrew_wiebe) November 5, 2020
The Timbers grew into the match in the second half after Diego Valeri subbed on. Jorge Villafaña subbed on later for an injured Marco Farfan and almost scored. Portland moved the ball through space. Valeri backheeled to the outside back. Villafaña shot but hit the side netting.
Kellyn Acosta decided the game off the bench. Scoring on a beautiful sequence in the 83rd minute, he won the game in the 83rd minute. Colorado passed the ball well to open up the Portland defense. They locked things down to win the game.
.@kellynacosta is back and he’s given us the 1-0 lead!!! pic.twitter.com/VikICRfahk
— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) November 5, 2020
Key Takeaways:
VAR gets it right: As weird as it might seem, the letter of the law was followed on the first half PK shout.
Playoffs? Playoffs! Win this result, the Colorado Rapids are officially qualified for the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs. Kellyn Acosta played the hero on the night.
First place up for grabs: With this loss, the top seed in the Western Conference is up for grabs. Anyone of Portland, Seattle, or Kansas City can clinch it on Decision Day on Sunday.
