There are no certainties in Major League Soccer, but, this fixture is coming pretty close being one.
The Portland Timbers had beaten the Colorado Rapids at Providence Park in seven straight games coming into this season, and, on Saturday night, the Timbers made it eight straight with little fuss — scoring an easy 2-0 victory on the strength of Jeremy Ebobisse’s first goal of the season and Diego Valeri’s tenth.
It was, all told, a straightforward evening. Though the game was scoreless until the first half’s closing moments, its direction was never in serious doubt. The gulf in class between the two teams was as wide and as abiding as any the Timbers have encountered this season.
The victory that resulted is a big one: it boosts the Timbers into the Western Conference’s all-important fourth position with just seven games left to play.
Those next seven won’t be nearly as easy as this one was. But considering that they were mired in a four-game losing streak and five-half scoreless streak just eleven nights ago, the Timbers were happy enough just to take care of business.
Before they could get to that, however, the evening started with an eyebrow-raising decision.
With Samuel Armenteros in a goalscoring rut, having cooled significantly since Fanendo Adi’s departure, and Giovani Savarese not shy about sitting star forwards, Jeremy Ebobisse was handed his first start of the season and first meaningful MLS minutes since the Timbers’ playoff ouster last November.
It was a big call, but it paid off. Ebobisse, stuck nearly all year with T2, was ready for his closeup.
He looked the part from the opening whistle, distributing and moving well, and had the ball in the net on the end of a Valeri free kick after just ten minutes — only to see a highly dubious offside decision negate what would have a dream start.
20 minutes after that, with the Timbers still pressing for the opener, a similarly marginal offside call took away another goal after Valeri broke through the Rapids’ defensive line and planted a free header past Tim Howard.
It was, in the end, on the cusp of first half stoppage time that the Timbers broke through for good. Diego Chara’s lead pass down the righthand side left Rapids fullback Edgar Castillo unsure of whether to attack the ball or retreat to defend without it.
Castillo’s hesitation proved fatal. Sebastian Blanco, racing forward to get on the end of the pass, took full advantage: steaming through Castillo, and slipping an inch-perfect pass across the face of goal, where Ebobisse, having darted to the back post, found himself with a tap in.
Blanco raised both arms and turned triumphantly to the crowd behind him, while Ebobisse took off towards him in celebration. It was the goal that the young forward’s first half performance deserved, and it ultimately it couldn’t have come at a better time.
With the Timbers taking a lead into the intermission, things looked bleak for the visitors. Then, just more than ten minutes after the restart, they were handed a lifeline when Steve Clark, filling in for the injured Jeff Attinella, went flying into Jack McBean as the forward tried to settle a deep cross and conceded a penalty.
Unfortunately for McBean, he’d pushed Liam Ridgewell in the back on top of the box just before racing into it after the cross — and the veteran Englishman, savvy as ever, made the most of the contact: lying crumpled on the turf while the play unfolded behind him.
Ridgewell’s distress caught the attention of the VAR Dave Gantar, who, before the spot kick could be taken, directed to referee Drew Fischer to review the play for a foul on the Rapids forward. Fischer did just that, and, after several looks at the push, reversed his original call and awarded the Timbers a free kick.
That was just about that. Colorado was going to need an improbable stroke of luck to get themselves back into the game, and, the rescinded penalty was as close as they were going to come. Not four minutes later, the Timbers extended their lead.
After a Rapids players smashed a pass into Jorge Villafaña’s stomach, Blanco picked up the ball and went straight for the byline — racing pass two defenders, picking up his head, and rocketing a cross into the center of the six-yard box that Valeri redirected in.
Blanco frequently plays a different pace than everyone else, but that was especially true on this night, and no truer than during this particular attack. It was an assault. Valeri, for his part, beat three Rapids defenders to get in position to make Blanco’s ferocious work worthwhile. He now has ten goals and ten assists on the year.
The game all but decided, Rapids coach Anthony Hudson felt comfortable bringing on 17-year-old Cole Bassett for his MLS debut. Both teams had looks down the stretch, with Armenteros familiarly bright in a substitute’s role, but there would be no more scoring.
The Rapids, as has so often been the case since Oscar Parjea bolted for Dallas five years ago, barely justified the cost of their own transportation. They kept the ball well enough in midfield — and ended up with 56 percent possession — but translating that play up the field proved well beyond them.
They managed just three shots on target for the evening, despite completing nearly 600 passes, and not a single one came from inside the box. They were missing Kellyn Acosta and several others, but it was a brutal showing.
But that’s to say that those numbers came as any surprise. The Rapids don’t have a suitable forward or playmaker, and the Timbers, as they’ve done so often, chose to defend the final third and attack largely in transition.
That, considering the venue and the level of the opposition, makes for as clear a signal as we’ve yet seen that Savarese has made his peace with the Timbers’ finishing the season as a low block, counter-attacking team.
They haven’t found a more effective way to play, and, barring a 2015-esque stroke of genius, aren’t going to.
It certainly was enough on Saturday night. Ebobisse walked away with his first log slice, as did Clark, whose postgame smile, given his history with the club he now represents, was hard not to share.
Will it be enough to win MLS Cup? That remains to be seen.
