The Portland Timbers fought the New England Revolution to a standstill today in a match that saw both teams throw men forward, but neither team find a game-winner.
The Revolution broke the initial deadlock in the 27' thanks to a series of broken plays from the Timbers. The goal started with a strange moment as Donovan Ricketts rushed out of his box to play a long ball with his feet, carrying it all the way to the right touchline before booting it down field under pressure from the Revs attackers. The low clearance was cut out down the field by New England an immediately played back down the pitch, making its way to the feet of Diego Fagundez, who drove toward the Timbers' box.
As Fagundez slipped a through ball behind the Timbers' line, Revs' forward Charlie Davies ran off the back shoulder of the Timbers' last man, Liam Ridgewell. The Timbers' back line collectively stopped and raised their hands, appealing for an offside call, as Davies ran onto the ball and fired a low shot from a tight angle, beating Ricketts just inside the far post.
The Timbers fought their way back into the match in the second half, evening things up in the 65' thanks to an unlikely source. Stepping up to pick off a Revolution pass inside the Timbers' half, Ridgewell came away with the ball and space to carry it forward ahead of him.
Dribbling down the pitch, Ridgewell just seemed to keep on going, with Revolution defenders continuing to give him space until, to everyone's surprise, he had carried the ball into the New England box. With New England keeper Bobby Shuttleworth still on his line, Ridgwell lined up a low, hard shot at the far post and calmly knocked it home, pulling the score even at 1-1.
From there the match intensified as both teams pushed forward, hoping for a taste of victory at the end of the match. As New England peppered Ricketts with shots from outside the box, the Timbers repeatedly threatened on the break.
In the 68', the Timbers looked to have scored the game winner as Maximiliano Urruti raced through the frozen New England backline onto a through ball from Diego Valeri. With Gaston Fernandez running in support, Urruti squared the ball to his fellow Argentine as Shuttleworth came off his line. Fernandez had no problem putting the ball away in the now open goal, only for the linesman to raise his flag, waving for an offside call against the Timbers. Replays would show that Fernandez was level with the ball as it was played by Urruti, but with no recourse for the Timbers the score remained level.
The Timbers had another chance coming off a quick break down the field in the 82'. This time Darlington Nagbe, inserted into the match for the first time since his knee injury three weeks ago, carried the ball to the end line wide right of the New England goal. with defenders swarming him, Nagbe touched the ball back through traffic to Urruti, who was set up just inside the penalty spot.
Taking a touch to his left, around a defender, Urruti hit a quick, low shot. The shot did not have the accuracy to beat the quick reactions of Shuttleworth, however, as the Revs' keeper was already moving across the face of the goal and managed a game-saving block on the play.
Although both teams continued pushing forward for the remainder of the game, neither could find the tie-breaker, ending the match with the score still at 1-1.