Game Recap: Portland Timbers vs the Energy Drinks
by Ryan Gates on Jun 19, 2011 10:30 PM PDT
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Portland once again gives up an early goal in the 5th minute but fight back and take a lead only to squander it late. Portland ties 3-3.
First Half:
The Portland Timbers really came out like they had a lot to prove and that made them play tight. Their passes were not as accurate as they needed to be and they forced a lot of passes. This lead to another early goal in the 5th minute on some really nice combinations by the New York Redbulls. Portland settled down a little as the game progressed but seemed to lack the guile or the ability to break down a Redbull defense that put 10 men behind the ball when not in possession.
I have to give props to the TA because in the 10th minute they chanted "Free the Spencer" for a good 3 minutes.
Portland really looked shaky once they gave up possession, thankfully the Red Bulls really conceded a lot of time of possession to Portland in the first 15 minutes of the game. Still with all that possession Portland managed 0 shots while the Red Bulls managed 3 with a goal.
More after the jump:
For the first 25 minutes it felt like I was watching two brothers play pick-up basketball in the driveway. Where the little brother dribbles a ways away from the basket cause he is not quick enough or big enough to get around his older brother. Then when he gets his chance he either hoists up a 30 footer that either hits the rim a couple of times and bounces out or is an air ball. Then the Big brother gets the ball and runs circles around the little brother doing whatever he wants.
This game really didn't show a lot from the 25th minute until the 35th minute when Portland finally got the ball down the wing thanks to Darlington Nagbe who won a corner. On the ensuing corner Kenny Cooper either got shot or hit from behind, I couldn't tell which. Once you get a reputation for going down easy you get calls less often. If you get a reputation for not going down easy you get those questionable calls. Someone needs to tell Kenny Cooper.
Portland started to show signs of life in the last 10 minutes of the half as they started to break down the outside players for the Red Bulls. The Final Ball just wasn't there, Man I feel like a broken record. The last 10 minutes was due to either Portland Playing better or New York letting up on the gas a bit, I would have to say a little of both. Portland goes into the locker room down 1.
Second Half:
Portland came out with a lot of energy in the second half and created two half chances in the first 90 seconds of the game. Those chances pinned the Red Bulls in their end and lead directly to a chance from Captain Jack Jewsbury buried a long shot from the corner of the box off a long throw in. Captain Jack came through again in the 50th minute. Portland got a set-piece from a foul committed on Kenny Cooper. Captain Jack hit a beautiful ball to the far post that Eric Brunner hit back in front of the goal. Kevin Goldthwaite, yes you read that right, had an amazing flick behind his legs to get the ball into the net. It is so hard to describe the explosion of energy that went through the stadium.
From that goal on it was as if Portland and New York changed kits at half time just to fool everyone. Portland really tried to pore it on from the 50th minute on, especially when winning set pieces, and created at least 5 half chances that lead to dangerous balls but no shots on goal.
New York was still dangerous whenever Portland committed numbers forward. When Portland lost the ball New York Looked to spring Thierry Henry or Dwayne De Rosario. Portland's CB's were up to the task of shutting them down as numbers got back behind the ball. Kalif Alhassan really was a pest on the right side of the field as he worked hard to pressure their outside backs. The pressure paid off as he dispossessed Mehdi Ballouchy on numerous occasions with one of those occasions leading to a great ball to Jorge Perlaza who played the ball across the box looking for Cooper. Luckily Stephen Keel forgot what kit he was wearing and put the ball in the back of the net.
The Red Bulls got increasingly more desperate and committed numbers forward. Portland was able to counter and spring Perlaza on numerous occasions. However the Red Bulls were able to pull one back with Henry getting a great through ball after which he beat Troy Perkins near post. For some reason Rodney Wallace picked up the ball after the goal and was mobbed by three Red Bull players, a scuffle ensued and two yellow cards were handed out. One to Wallace which means he is suspended for the next game.
New York Continued to attack and Portland countered this back and forth led to a great through ball to Perlaza who beat the keeper but was taking down by him. Captain Jack stepped up to take the PK but missed it, hitting the outside of the right post. This brought about a heart stopping final 15 minutes. Portland luckily did not stop attacking as this kept the pressure on the Red Bulls and didn't allow them to set up their offense.
Portland really worked the last 5 minutes plus the 4 minutes of stoppage time to seal the game off. New York put a lot of Energy into trying to tie it. A couple of bizarre twists to end the game occurred during stoppage time as Henry was awarded a Red Card for something, honestly I have no idea what for. Then to end the game Portland was called for a handball in the box and De Rosario stepped up and tied the game late.
Observations:
- Kalif played a great game today and really helped the turn around in the second half.
- Goldthwaite played great, especially on the set-pieces he really had some great runs that created a lot of chances.
- Portland outplayed arguably the best team in the MLS in the second half. The Team needs to bottle whatever caused that turn around and drink it before every half.
- I didn't see a Red for Henry...........
- Lucky for the Timbers El Salvador was eliminated from the Gold Cup and therefore Steve Purdy can play next weekend in place of Rodney Wallace.
- Captain Jack needs to hit the PK with pace, especially against a dodgy keeper, not place it.
- Now we need results on the road, a scary prospect.
- The "You can't stop us..." Call and response is amazing now and really loud in the press box. As is the PTFC chant. The media guy next to me said that Portland has the best fans in the MLS that he has seen, he covers the Red Bulls.
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Henry did get away with a couple very deliberate knees to defenders' backs
on jump balls. I figured he was overdue for a card, but didn’t see what they actually called him for, either.
Maybe we’ll find out during the ref’s press conference… wait, what?
T$ 225 on Blazersedge
I was really disappointed with the outcome
but overall felt it was a pretty exciting game and if you had told me we’d get a draw versus a NYRB side that had DeRosario and Thierry Henry at home and they had to get a fluke last second penalty goal to get it, that isn’t too bad. We almost broke Hans Backe’s amazing record of never losing a game after scoring first (where he had something like 60 wins or whatever ridiculous) and we showed a tremendous amount of resiliency after giving up the first goal so quickly. If Captain Jack converts that PK in the 75th minute or whatever it was or if Perlaza FINALLY FREAKIN SHOOTS ON THE FIRST TOUCH LIKE HE NEVER EVER EVER DOES AND IS SO FRUSTRATING, the outcome would’ve turned out rather well. Regardless, here’s hoping we give FC Dallas a reminder of early April next week and that the Red Bulls give Seattle a good kick in the nuts too.
Bacon, oranges, or whatever relaxes you
Get more of it, because we’ve got a lot more games to watch and Portland Timbers have established themselves as the ultimate tease. Good, awful, or sideways… or all of the above like today… Timbers are at least entertaining and unpredictable in their first MLS season.
Mixed feelings on Jack and Goldy. Their goals were great and helped the team to a point. But Jack’s missed PK and Goldy’s lack of composure in stoppage time gave two points away. I still have little confidence in Goldy’s defending. Rodney Wallace is immature. He deserves to miss the next game and it might be good for him. I don’t know if it will be good for the team though. As for others, Nagbe/Alhassan/Perlaza were very good. Perlaza just needs to let himself be great, just shoot Jorge!
Timbers must learn to close these games out. I like the effort and passion, but they also must stay composed and play smart. Tonight they got the lead and acted like they have never been there before.
TA was great. The game was an eye roller.
by yepyou'reright on Jun 19, 2011 11:17 PM PDT reply actions
"Tonight they got the lead and acted like they have never been there before."
Great way to sum up that second half. They really seemed to abandon the game plan after that second goal.
As for Wallace, are you just referring to the handball at the end (which I thought seemed pretty incidental to me)? He also narrowly missed on that diving header (on a wide open goal)… the cards just didn’t fall the best way for him tonight.
T$ 225 on Blazersedge
Not the hand ball, the yellow card
He has taken some dumb, needless yellows this season. But the handball was bad enough. He and Goldy were a mess positionally on that play.
by yepyou'reright on Jun 19, 2011 11:58 PM PDT up reply actions
watching the TV replay
Wallace does lean back in reactively and definitely effected NYs chance significantly….
The problem was Goldie laying that ball gently out to wing for NY like that…
"What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?"
— Ralph Ellison (Invisible Man)
That was one of the more schizoid games the Timbers have put together this year
It was interesting, because they had two modes – utterly clueless and really pretty good. They swapped modes pretty rapidly, which was frustrating. They created a few better chances, but as someone said they really sort of abandoned themselves late in the second half.
Jewsbury’s penalty was hit with pretty good pace, he just missed it. The Timbers really, really need to do some shooting practice at some point, not just penalties – they are amazing at putting shots everywhere but on net.
Henry got sent off for violent conduct – he’d been elbowing and kneeing a few guys most of the night, and it finally got to the point where he kicked out at Moffat and the ref had had enough, so he showed him the red. It was an amazingly fast red card.
I was fairly encouraged by a lot of what the Timbers did in the second half, but this is definitely two points lost instead of one point won. Still, losing and scoreless streaks are broken, so there’s something to take into Saturday.
Ending the score drought is the most important aspect for me.
All those goals, while not GotW material, were quality (even the own goal was the work of great disruption by Perlaza). With Purdy and Futty gone, the defense was going to be an issue, I just didn’t realize how bad.
If you were to tell me it would be 3-3 before the match I’d have been thrilled. How that last goal came burns (though it was legit), but it was still a fun one.
I hope they can get real grass by 2015. If the Timbers are going to, uh, strategically take fouls that much then they’ll need a softer landing pad. That’s a completely arbitrary marker, but If Qwest can do it, so can we. Water table and sunlight be damned.
Onward!
I'm the same way
Although it feels like a huge letdown – and it is – a 3-3 draw for this Timbers team right now is a great result.
Side note: Qwest doesn’t have real grass. They bring real grass in for the occasional friendly, but for both the Sounders and the Seahawks, they use the same FieldTurf that JWP uses.
Not the Same
But an older version, which is why it looks so bad now.
Contributing editor to Stumptown Footy the Portland Timbers SBN blog.
Gonna look even better at the end of the season
when the huskies and seahawks are playing on it too!
Scoreboards, not billboards.
Regular season, not pre-season.
Though Jeld Wen has the Vikings playing on it, too
My take is that you can have a grass field in the PNW weather, and you have can have a grass field that is shared with other teams/sports, but you can’t have both.
Maybe you can, but I can’t think of any top-quality fields that pull if off. UP obviously has a beautiful pitch, but they don’t have to share it with other teams or sports.
T$ 225 on Blazersedge
I bet the brunner to Goldie goal is a candidate for GoW
"What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?"
— Ralph Ellison (Invisible Man)
goldie played alright, but lets be honest he blew that last play
Its the end of the game, you can head an easy ball back to your keeper and let him punt it to the other half, but instead you try to play it to yourself with an offensive players trying to run you down? that was a bone head play.
Perl really needs to start finishing some of his chances. I’m not blaming this all on goldie cuz our offense had plenty of chances to put another goal or more away.
by Kazper on Jun 20, 2011 8:45 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
If Jewsbury makes that penalty nobody would notice what happened to Goldthwaite
And it’s not just Perlaza – the Timbers as a whole are not shooting the ball well right now. They’re doing better at creating chances, which is awesome, but now they need to start converting a few more of them. It was good to see a couple shots go in last night, but that missed penalty was a killer.
I understand there were a lot of plays that killed us.
But realistically if you score 3 goals that should be plenty. that means the defense blew the game for you. and as a professional you cant make that play in the last minute of the game… worse case you pound the ball out for a throw in.
But Goldie should be able to make that decision easily
basically he does ANYTHING besides what he actually did and that game is over. Missed goals are missed goals, the other team is all over it defending and pushing. Goldie was all by himself and laid that ball perfectly out there for the red bulls. He is our centerback he should not make that play. I was screaming at him from the other end when that ball was still in play.
"What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?"
— Ralph Ellison (Invisible Man)
Things you come to regret.
As excellent as the Timbers second-half performance was–and there wasn’t much stopping Henry’s goal–both Jewsbury’s PK miss and Goldthwaite’s non-sensical 94th minute back pass are the sort of mistakes good teams a) don’t make and b) pounce on. Some credit should go where credit is due. Tainio’s acrobatic clearance off the goal line kept NYRB in the game and the PK miss handed Red Bulls a lifeline (Sutton probably had Jewsbury’s shot covered anyway).
That said, Portland’s last two performances are encouraging. Even if the Timbers somehow turned 4pts into 1pt, the quality of soccer on display is improving.
by eric mallory morgan on Jun 20, 2011 9:25 AM PDT reply actions
I think this is the Key
The quality of Soccer has improved and to be honest against two of the better teams in the league. Now the Timbers need to play that well against the lower tier teams and gain some of the points back.
Contributing editor to Stumptown Footy the Portland Timbers SBN blog.
better matches, dissappointing results
perlaza should have taken that shot long before he was fouled in hte box too. Three things. Jorge holding the ball too long, Jack missing on the pk and goldie being goldie.
"What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?"
— Ralph Ellison (Invisible Man)
Strikers working well together?
Perlaza and Cooper don’t seem to have enough combination play with each other. Rather then make a simple slide pass for their partner to tap in, they go for the more difficult shot. Granted you want your strikers to be a little greedy, but there are times when it seems like they should be a little unselfish. I thought on the penalty that Perlaza drew that Cooper was wide open and in a mich better position to finish and Perlaza didn;t even think to play him the ball. Anyone else agree, I could be way off in my assesment but it’s not the first time that I’ve noticed this. It was a very entertaining game to say the least, but 2 points lost nonetheless. They seem to work very well with all the others around them, but don’t appear to be clicking with each other. Doesn’t seem like egos getting in the way either, but who knows.
Great write up, however
“Portland really worked the last 5 minutes plus the 4 minutes of stoppage time to seal the game off. "
We stopped pressing the attack in those last nine minutes. Cooper had the ball and backed off multiple times as well as others. I know you want to burn clock, but we got way out of rhythm trying to slow it down too often.
And then this
“Then to end the game Portland was called for a handball in the box and De Rosario stepped up and tied the game late.” combined with this “Goldthwaite played great”.
Look, I agree Goldie looked super awesome on offense, problem is he is our CENTERBACK. His job is to DEFEND.
That PK was entriely his fault. He either needed to let that ball go by him back to Perkins while he shielded off any RedBulls or he needed to kick it to row ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Instead he set the ball right out into the corner for a beuatiful centering pass that drew a reactionary handball.
GOLDIE cost us that win as much, if not more, as he put us in a position to win. I would say more because his primary role is DEFENSE and he makes HORRIBLE decisions on defense. Horrible. Horrible, Horrible. Why he rides the bench…
"What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?"
— Ralph Ellison (Invisible Man)
Here is the thing
I really believe if it weren’t for the 2 and half minutes of stoppage to give 2 reds and a yellow out (One being to a coach on the Red Bulls Bench) Portland would have closed the game out. I don’t think the PK is all his fault, yes he should have cleared that ball but Wallace has to share some of the blame.
Bashing one player to me is a little like blaming only one person for the way the government is run or was run. Pointless because it took more than 1 person/player to mess it up.
Contributing editor to Stumptown Footy the Portland Timbers SBN blog.
I don't think Goldthwaite alone cost Portland the game
but having watched the replay just now (it happened at the other end from where my seats are and didn’t get a good view last night) he was definitely at fault for the play that resulted in the penalty. As Buckeye says, and others have said, he needed to welt that ball as far away from danger as he could, and he didn’t – that’s schoolboy stuff.
You have a point about those cards
And that is a problem the Timbers have to resolve, those huge lapses when something unexpected happens. The rapids goal came right after Spencer got tossed, there are plenty of other chances this season. I mean I know you will give up a set piece or two, but these lapses in other situations need to be addressed in general.
Goldie’s play was just bad decision making, that is what bugs me more than the other players misses. Part of my scrutiny comes from the fact that his decision making wasxawful in the first two matches this season. I was thrilled when he scored and created another goal opportunity, he got past his problems, and then, well we all saw it…
"What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?"
— Ralph Ellison (Invisible Man)
by PDXBuckeye on Jun 20, 2011 10:02 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
The players on the field need to keep their heads down and focus on the game at hand.
I write for Stumptown Footy, SB Nation's Portland Timbers blog.
by thehemogoblin on Jun 21, 2011 12:17 AM PDT up reply actions
I totally understand
It was a bad decision which is what frustrates me too, I see it with Wallace a lot too. When Spencer was talking during the post game he said something about a miss communcication between Wallace, Perkins and Goldthwaite so I don’t know if it was Goldthwaite that decided to not clear it or one of the other 2.
Contributing editor to Stumptown Footy the Portland Timbers SBN blog.
All my Goldie bashing aside
That was a blast last night, and the Colorado game for that matter…
"What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?"
— Ralph Ellison (Invisible Man)
Henry red card
I happened to be watching Henry and Portland’s Moffatt after they got tangled up on a Henry run. Henry patted him on the back a few times and then slapped him fairly hard on the back of the head twice and walked off, and then Moffatt shoved him in the back. That’s when the side ref started waving his flag. I believe that’s why the red and yellow cards were given.
Thanks
I was not watching the two, interesting.
Contributing editor to Stumptown Footy the Portland Timbers SBN blog.
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