The Portland Timbers’ first meeting of the season with Minnesota United on Sunday afternoon at Allianz Field in Saint Paul looked, for the longest time, like it was heading for a draw.
The 30 shots in the game were split evenly between the sides, 15 apiece. Both teams had promising passages of play and both had their chances to score, but neither, be it because of the heat, the personnel, or the matchup, were at their absolute best.
It was only a controversial late penalty — awarded after a lengthy video review — that tipped the fate of the afternoon in Minnesota’s direction, boosting the Loons in a tie for second place in the Western Conference and snapping the Portland’s six-game unbeaten run.
The Timbers will stay in the Twin Cities and get another crack at the Loons on Wednesday night in a U.S. Open Cup semifinal, but this defeat, coming as it did, stings nonetheless.
It’s not a particularly serious blow to Timbers’ postseason prospects. But Giovani Savarese played a strong team, despite the midweek game looming, and while they didn’t play at the pitch that saw them demolish the LA Galaxy, nothing about the 90 minutes suggested that they wouldn’t walk away with a result.
The Loons, meanwhile, came into the match shorthanded — missing Colombian talisman Darwin Quintero, suspended due to yellow card accumulation — and his absence factored significantly into a first half in which Minnesota looked a player short of making a breakthrough.
With both of the Timbers’ wingers playing inverted, Sebastian Blanco on the left and Marvin Loría on the right, Minnesota had plenty of room with which to operate on the flanks — but they came away with little to show for it.
French fullback Romain Métanire struggled with his final product on the righthand side, while Miguel Ibarra squandered a series of promising chances on the left. Angelo Rodriguez was a handful up top, eventually drawing cautions on both of the Timbers’ center backs, but not especially threatening in front of goal.
The Timbers had their chances as well, frequently in transition and most notably midway through the first half, when Minnesota goalkeeper Vito Mannone made a strong double save on Jorge Moreira and then Sebastian Blanco.
As the clock ticked past the hour mark and the heat began to take its toll, the game became increasingly strung out, a series of transitions and stoppages. It was increasingly clear that, if the teams were to be separated at all, a single goal would be enough.
Both managers, in search of that decisive goal, went to their benches for the final push. Adrian Heath brought on Robin Lod and Mason Toye for the Loons, while Savarese turned to Jeremy Ebobisse for Portland.
Ebobisse’s impact, just as when he came off the bench at home against Orlando several weeks ago, was considerable and immediate. He gave the Timbers a target out wide and up top, opening the game up for Fernandez, who, having largely been neutralized , sprang back to life.
15 minutes from time, the Timbers came as close as they would all night to pulling ahead. Blanco angled a lofted pass behind the Minnesota backline for Ebobisse, who tracked it, settled it, and dropped it off for Fernandez — who belted a first-time shot that clattered against the far post and bounced away.
The Timbers continued to threaten over the next several minutes, with a Fernandez header stretching Mannone and Ike Opara clearing a dangerously skipping corner out of the goalmouth, until, for a change, they were nearly burned in transition.
With just more than five minutes to play, an Osvaldo Alonso long ball sent substitute Abu Danladi into space down the right — but Toye couldn’t redirect his centering pass in at the back post.
That very well might have been it. Both sides were exhausted, the late afternoon sun still beating down on the Allianz Field playing surface, and the Timbers, given their slate of upcoming home games, would have been plenty happy to settle for a point regardless.
But they wouldn’t get the chance. Two minutes after Toye’s miss, Jan Gregus swung in a corner that Opara met and headed straight into Larrys Mabiala.
The Minnesota players and bench all appealed for a penalty, and, with the benefit of replay, it was easy to understand why: Mabiala had lunged to challenge for the ball and then block it with both of his arms inexplicably outstretched.
Referee Chris Penso initially waved away the protests, but a stoppage in play brought a review, and then, after a several minutes, a reversal. It was a penalty.
The Timbers were apoplectic with the decision, and not without reason. While Mabiala’s arms were were certainly in an unnatural position, it was extremely difficult to tell where Opara’s header had actually hit him. It might have been his upper arm, but it also might have been his shoulder or rib cage.
Considering that the decision on the field was no penalty, it was a stretch to say that Penso had made the clear and obvious error that would have warranted a review in the first place.
But the decision was final, and it pitted Ethan Finley against his former Columbus Crew teammate Steve Clark from the spot with the match on the line. Clark guessed the right way and got a chunk of Finley’s take, but its pace carried into the corner.
Several minutes later, it was over. For the Loons, it was a critical three points that may go a long way in clinching their first ever postseason appearance — dug out against quality opposition on a day thanks in large part to a player in Opara who knows exactly what it takes to win down the stretch in MLS.
The Timbers, while they will soon turn their full attention to the bigger game and prize on Wednesday night, were not pleased. Savarese said after the game that he doesn’t “know what a PK is anymore,” and that the video review rules are not applied in a “consistent” manner.
It’s hard to argue the larger point. The clear and obvious standard for video reviews appears to have given way to a standard of simply correcting the call on the field, however fine, in some cases, the margin of that call may be.
There is not, it should be noted, any use of video review in the U.S. Open Cup — and if the Timbers are to win in three nights’ time, this defeat, and its manner, will slip quietly and quickly into the background.
