Quick Recap:
Portland Timbers gets plenty of chances to score from a set piece but fail to do so. Troy Perkins played amazing but still couldn't not clean up all the defensive mistakes and Chivas USA gets one by him. 1-0 Loss.
First Half:
Portland came out looking the best they have looked to start a road game, however it only lasted 5 minutes. Chivas took over from there and almost got a goal in the 8th minute with a shot from outside the box that took a deflection before getting through to Perkins. Perkins made a great reactionary save to keep the ball from going in.
More After the Jump:
When Portland finally won the ball there was such a huge gap between the midfield and the forwards that they were unable to keep the ball and thus mount an attack. Instead of actually breaking the pressure Portland immediately gave the ball back because it was always 2v4 and allowed Chivas to turn around and shove it down their throat.
This pattern continued throughout the rest of the first half until the very last 5 minutes when finally Portland found some possession but were still unable to hit the final ball to get a goal. With Portland pushed up Chivas were able to get a counter and the cross found a wide open Justin Braun who actually did something more difficult than scoring the goal, he missed the goal.
Portland goes into the half still tied at nil-nil.
Second Half:
Portland came out a little better than the first half and showed a little more patience as they moved forward. However despite the better composure on the ball Portland still lacked quality in the their crosses or in the ball behind the defense. Portland just looked out of sync in the defense with our General Eric Brunner out with an illness.
Without Brunner Chivas found a lot of space to roam and used this space to their advantage, to be honest I don't know if Brunner would have made a huge difference in this game. Chivas used the space on the wing to find a wide open Paulo Nagamura who then found an even more wide open Marco Mondaini for the easy tap in.
Portland's response to the goal was promising but still seemed like they couldn't pass the ball to save their lives. Balls went out of bounds, flew over player's heads, went straight to a Chivas Player and in general went everywhere except where it needed to go.
The two bright spots were a both shots from Jack Jewsbury however neither were able to find the back of the net. In the end Portland just didn't have enough offensive execution to score a goal tonight.
Observations:
- Portland's last goal from the run of play was way back in the FC Dallas Game.
- The gap between the mids and the forwards was finally plugged with Nagbe, should that happen from the start?
- Portland's Wing players got killed by Chivas' wing players.
- Kalif Alahassan has not produced like we need him to on the road.
- If Portland's forwards are to score they need much better service than they have received.
- The set-piece well has really dried up.
- Congrats to Ryan Pore and his brand new boy!