Chivas USA rode into town on a four match winless streak amidst a general unraveling of the organization. The Portland Timbers, on the other hand, entered the match on an eight game unbeaten streak looking to recover some of the mojo lost in back to back draws against FC Dallas and the New England Revolution.
The result was a 3-0 drubbing, owing to goals from Rodney Wallace, Diego Valeri, and Will Johnson.
The Timbers limited Chivas to eight shots and just 41 percent possession, but the stats don't really tell the whole story. Chivas never threatened on the attack from the run of play, as they created most of their chances on set-pieces. At times Portland even appeared to be taking it easy, not fighting terribly hard to win back possession, instead allowing Chivas to cough up the ball on their own. Which they invariably did.
Portland is now alone in second place in the Western Conference, in both points and points per match, thanks to Real Salt Lake and LA Galaxy both losing their weekend games.
The Timbers will finally get a full week to breathe, after a difficult stretch of games, before traveling to face the Vancouver Whitecaps. The Whitecaps beat the LA Galaxy yesterday 3-1 and already have their sights set squarely on the boys in green.
What did you think of the Timbers' victory this afternoon?