Crazy Second Half Results in 3-1 Victory Over San Jose

A scoreless first half turned into quite the insane second half. Two Timbers players left injured and Valeri got two yellows. But the team showed grit and determination to get all 3 points at home.

Right from kickoff both teams were showing signs of fatigue from having played so many minutes already this week. The entire first half was a back and forth affair that generated chances for both sides but neither team could convert to goals. There really wasn't much of a midfield to speak of for either team.

For almost the entire 45 minutes the ball would be stopped by one team's defense around the box and then get worked the other direction to the other box. Only to be stopped by the other defenders who moved the ball back the other way. Rinse and repeat.

The second half started off fearfully as another Timbers player went down with an injury. Just a couple of minutes in Kwarasey looked like he jammed his right hand into the ground and dislocated one or more fingers. He was unable to continue so Jake Gleeson subbed on in the 50th minute to a scoreless game.

Shortly thereafter in the 52nd minute, the Timbers won some important challenges, including Jack McInerney winning the ball over Colvey in San Jose's box. Once McInerney won the challenge the ball fell right to him and he was able to slot the ball past Bingham into the far corner giving the Timbers a 1-0 lead.

Following the goal, the Timbers suffered another injury as Mattocks ran into Bernardez in the midfield. It appeared that Mattocks may have concussed as he went down and didn't move. Bernardez waved to the ref to stop the game in an effort to get help to Mattocks as quickly as possible. Mattocks was helped to the sideline and then helped to the locker room as Fanendo Adi came on as the second substitute due to injury.

Adi had an immediate impact on the match, coming in fresh for the final 30+ minutes. After coming on in the 63rd minute, Adi scored his first goal of the evening in the 65th minute when some give and take from Timbers players allowed them to crash into the box with numbers. Eventually the ball fell to Adi who was able to turn and put the ball into the back of the net to give the home side the 2-0 lead.

There were 8 minutes of stoppage time due to all of the injuries and San Jose was able to pull one back as the game went into stoppage time. Nat Borchers had a whole lot of Chris Wondolowski's jersey and both went down in the box as a cross came in. Ref called the foul for Borchers pulling Wondolowski down and San Jose got the penalty. Wondolowski stepped up and converted the penalty kick for the visitors to bring it back to a one goal game.

After San Jose got the goal to bring it to a one goal game, the Timbers were down to 10 men. In approximately the 4th minute of stoppage time, the Timbers were breaking forward. After the ref blew his whistle Valeri kicked the ball into San Jose's Godoy. David Bingham ran over to Valeri and a fight between the teams broke out. Valeri got his second yellow card of the night due to dissent and was sent off. He will be unavailable for the Timber's next match against the New England Revolution. David Bingham also received a yellow card for his part in instigating the dust up between the teams.

With more than enough stoppage time to try to salvage a draw, the visitors continued to throw everything they had at the Timbers in an effort to grab a second goal and take advantage of being up a man. But Adi would have none of it as 9 minutes into 8 minutes of stoppage time he was breaking forward with Lucas Melano and Jack McInerney. Jack Mac chipped a nice ball up to Melano who selflessly dropped it off to a wide open Adi for an easy tap in and Adi's third brace as a substitute for the Timbers. With the restoral of a two goal lead, the game was had. As soon as San Jose kicked off the ref blew the whistle for full time and Portland secured all three points.

After tonight, the Timbers get 10 days off. Up next, they will fly to the east coast to take on the New England Revolution on Wednesday, April 27th, at 4:30 pm PT.