The Portland Timbers got their biggest win since MLS Cup last Sunday at Providence Park, riding tremendous performances from Diego Valeri and Jake Gleeson to a 2-1 win over Eastern Conference favorites Toronto FC.
Now the Timbers, close to full strength for the first time since March, will try to string together back-to-back wins for the first time in 2016 as they play their first Cascadia Cup match of the year in Vancouver on Saturday afternoon (2:00 PM, TV on FOX 12).
The History
No away stadium in MLS has been kinder to the Portland Timbers than Vancouver's BC Place. The Timbers' last trip to Canada, for the second leg of the Western Conference Semifinal last season, culminated in an emphatic 2-0 win that can be considered one of the club's finest performances in its six top-flight seasons.
Previous highlights at BC Place include a handful of stunning goals — from Kenny Cooper in 2011 and Jack Jewsbury's Cascadia Cup-winning effort in 2012 — and a number of big wins. One of the few setbacks in this fixture came in Portland's last regular season meeting with the 'Caps in Vancouver in March 2015, when a last-gasp Robert Earnshaw goal beat the Timbers 2-1.
Vancouver coach Carl Robinson is one of Caleb Porter's best friends in MLS coaching circles, but it's fair to say that Porter has usually won the coaching matchup. This game will be Darren Mattocks' first in Vancouver as an opposing player. Pa Modou Kah, who went the other way in 2014, is expected to in the 18 for the Whitecaps.
The Tactics
Portland's starting lineup is more settled than it has been all season. With Adam Kwarasey and Alvas Powell still out for the foreseeable future, Porter will name the same starting lineup that beat Toronto last weekend.
The Timbers got fabulous performances against TFC from Kwarasey and Powell's respective replacements, Jake Gleeson and Zarek Valentin. Portland could use similar games from the pair, plus the level of intensity out of the gate that created the team's first goal against Toronto. More from Darlington Nagbe, who sometimes struggles to find his offense when Valeri is on, could be important as well.
The Whitecaps themselves are in some trouble. An extremely slow start to the season has Vancouver mired in eighth place with just eleven points from ten games — and, to make matters worse, star winger Kekuta Manneh was suspended midweek for this match by the MLS Disciplinary Committee for an ugly challenge at New York City last weekend.
The 'Caps have struggled creating offense from open play in 2016, and have done most of their damage on set pieces — where the Timbers defense, outside of Gleeson, struggled mightily on Sunday. If they can play a clean game, Porter's team should be in a good spot.
The Lineup
90 - Gleeson
16 - Valentin
24 - Ridgewell (C)
7 - Borchers
15 - Klute
21 - Chara
6 - Nagbe
8 - Valeri
22 - Mattocks
26 - Melano
9 - Adi
The Pick
With Vancouver reeling, the Timbers rounding into form, and the teams' history at BC Place, this looks like a 2-0 Portland win.
