Man of the Match: Portland Timbers draw Vancouver Whitecaps

The Portland Timbers did not play their best game last Saturday and thus they did not get the result they, or us fans, wanted. However, they did get a point and their were some good performances put in by a few of the players on the field. The following are the Man of the Match Picks from our esteemed panel of judges:

Will - Fanendo Adi

The Big Man was absolutely tormenting the Whitecaps young back line on Saturday and it is mostly a credit to the hard work and tracking back of Matias Laba and Gershon Koffie that he did not end up with more than just an assist. While Valeri got the goal and deserves plaudits of his own, Adi was laying the foundation for evey attacking move that the Timbers made.

Chris - Nat Borchers

With Vancouver attacking the Timbers' left side at will in the first half on Saturday, it would've been easy for Borchers to play his position and come away with a clean personal performance. Instead, however, Borchers provided key cover for his left-sided teammates, using his elite reading of the game to be in crucial positions to save the Timbers' bacon early on.

Ryan - Fanendo Adi

I wanted to go with Will Johnson for sticking up for his teammates and voicing his displeasure at the quality of the refereeing but the red card was too far. Instead I went with the one player offensively who seemed to be clicking. Adi was playing well as the target striker and laid a couple of great balls off to players who unfortunately usually squandered his good pass. His assist to Valeri was perfect as he attacked the two defenders and waited long enough for Diego Chara's run to cause the defenders to have to make a decision.