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The Portland Timbers may have underwhelmed in their 0-0 draw against Sporting Kansas City on Saturday, but that doesn't mean that there were no standout performances on the pitch.
As always, let's put our noggins together and pick a Man of the Match out of the Timbers' morass from this weekend.
Will: Diego Chara
Chara pushed up further into the midfield today and gave the Timbers the option to play with possession while Jack Jewsbury stayed further back as the team's defensive anchor. The change, along with his increased match fitness, helped Chara return to his usual ball-winning, foul-earning, simple-passing, possession-holding self, even if the Timbers as a whole could not quite take control of the game.
Kevin: Darlington Nagbe
I'm going to have to go with Nagbe on this. Any half decent chance we got seemed to go through him or started by him. Nothing was finished and I swear our defense is lucky to walk away with the clean sheet but Nagbe continues to excel at his current position in the 10 spot. I'd love to see him get a goal and continue being a threat when he moves out wide so I can feel like this team will be near invincible once Valeri comes back. As it stands a road draw would be a great result had we not drawn twice at home to start. I hope none of these results are points we look back on and go "we should've gotten all 3 back then".
Chris: Liam Ridgewell
Unlike the Galaxy game in which he didn't have much to do defensively, Ridgewell was the busier of the Timbers' central defenders on Saturday and fulfilled his duties more than capably. Last year Caleb Porter predicted Ridgewell would turn into one of the best centerbacks in MLS. Although Nat Borchers has received most of the plaudits for the Timbers' improved defense, Ridgewell's steadiness has been just as big a factor. If this keeps up, he may prove his manager right.
There are our picks, but what are yours? Let us know in the comments below and vote in the poll. That's right, we are going back to the poll.