Quick Recap: Portland Timbers Succumb to Murphy's Law, Lose to Real Salt Lake

The Portland Timbers, still dealing with a rash of injuries and suspensions, hoped to get back to winning (or drawing) ways at Real Salt Lake, but they were derailed by another injury, another suspension, and some poor defending.

Another sloppy start from the Timbers let Real Salt Lake get on the scoreboard in the 9th minute, as a pass from Joao Plata put Luis Gil behind Rodney Wallace and in on goal. Donovan Ricketts couldn't quite get his outstretched leg to Gil's far post shot.

They struck again just a few minutes later as Plata beat Andrew Jean-Baptiste in the box and managed an impressive far post shot from a tight angle.

Darlington Nagbe gave the Timbers some hope in the 31st, when he ripped off a shot from outside the box that skipped under the outstretched arm of Nick Rimando. That hope was snatched away about as suddenly as it came though, because Diego Valeri was subbed out immediately after the goal due to an injury.

The outlook got even worse for the Timbers at the end of first-half stoppage time, when Ben Zemanski was sent off for a studs up tackle on Ned Grabavoy, sending the Timbers into halftime both a man down and a goal down.

In the 53rd minute, the Timbers oh-so predictably left Javier Morales wide open on a corner, allowing him lots of space for a bicycle kick goal. Another set piece really sank the dagger in 10 minutes later, when Alvaro Saborio got his head on a Morales set piece.

The Timbers cut the deficit a little in the 78th minute, when Rimando parried away a shot by Jose Adolfo Valencia and Sal Zizzo put away the rebound. However, since this is real life and not a sports movie, no miraculous comeback happened for the Timbers, who spent most of the remainder of the game trying to stop Real Salt Lake from grabbing a fifth goal.

This is the first time the Timbers have lost back-to-back games this season, as well as their first loss by multiple goals.