When it came right down to it on a Wednesday night at the Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, it just didn’t look like Real Salt Lake believed. It looked like RSL’s lions, Kyle Beckerman, Javier Morales, and Nick Rimando, knew deep down that their team wasn’t good enough—on the night, and on the season.
Salt Lake is done. They needed to beat the Portland Timbers to keep their faint playoff hopes alive, but instead it was the Timbers who gave their own playoff hopes a major boost with a tremendous performance and resulting 1-0 road win.
Portland has always believed. They’re rarely delivered this season, but the organization and everyone who makes it up remains as sure as ever that they have the players and staff to make an MLS Cup run this year. Thanks to a gutsy tactical setup from the under-fire Caleb Porter and a number of standout performances all over the field, the Timbers are once again in prime position to turn this season into one to remember.
It’s still anyone’s guess if the Timbers can finally deliver on their clear promise, but it’s a fact that this team handles adversity with resolve, and is capable of its best in its most dire situations. Portland 1, Salt Lake 0 was a huge win, but it was also a statement from a group that refuses to lose faith.
With both Will Johnson and Jack Jewsbury out injured, Porter set the tone for the game by changing formations to a 4-1-4-1, with Diego Chara serving as the only holding midfielder and Lucas Melano reinserted into the team out wide.
The shift paid dividends for the Timbers, who had all kinds of numbers in the attack from the get-go. But the combination of poor finishing and Nick Rimando held the Timbers back in the first half.
It was after the interval that Portland got its chance, as Lucas Melano exploded onto a flick and churned past two RSL defenders before Jamison Olave brought Melano down on the edge of the penalty area. Referee Juan Guzman pointed to the spot, and showed Olave the red card. Fanendo Adi converted the spot-kick with ease, and the Timbers had their lead. Some thirty minutes later, they had their win.
Nat Borchers, who seems to revel in the professional tenacity it takes to play his former team, was sensational in the heart of the Timbers defense. Behind him, Adam Kwarasey’s two big saves—especially his effort on a deflected shot in stoppage time—were vital. It’s been hard to find fault with any part of the Ghanian’s debut season in MLS, which has quietly turned into a fine, fine campaign.
Porter’s switch to playing with five attackers had plenty to do with the Timbers’ stalwart defense—but it may have had more to do with the well-founded thought that if any midfielder in MLS could successfully play the single-pivot, it would be Diego Chara.
Sure enough, Chara was more than up to the task of being two people against Real Salt Lake. Even more encouraging was the play of Darlington Nagbe, who looked at home working as a shuttler in the central midfield areas. Perhaps, after five seasons, Nagbe has finally found his best position.
The Timbers’ spine stepped up. Even Fanendo Adi may be stepping into a leadership role. Adi’s handling of the penalty situation—which started with him taking the ball off of Melano and then running over to embrace Melano after he scored—showed almost as much veteran poise as his penalty itself did.
Full credit to the Timbers. There are few wins better in sports than the vindicating win, and, after a week and a half of doubt and speculation after the huge letdown at home against Sporting Kansas City, Porter and his team reconstructed those flailing playoff hopes with a bullseye of a performance.
It’s hard to say how good the Timbers actually are, but they’ve certainly managed to stick together and stay the course. Character players like Borchers have been a huge reason why. RSL misses the central defender more than they can even know.
Portland spent all of 2013 trying to be Real Salt Lake and then trying and failing to beat Real Salt Lake, but it’s the Claret and Cobalt who beat the Timbers to disintegration. With their old leadership scattered all over MLS—Jason Kreis in New York, Garth Lagerway in Seattle, Bill Manning in Toronto—and their owner making even Merritt Paulson look well-behaved, RSL looks like a team that has come apart at the seems.
Meanwhile, this Timbers team, which started the season backed into a corner because of injuries and never really found its way out, seems to take a great deal of pride in its togetherness—and while togetherness isn’t in itself a winning strategy, it’s kept the Timbers around for an entire season and may even see them into the playoffs.
Narrative is finally catching up with reality. This Timbers team doesn’t have great skill, or a great formation—though Jeff Cassar was certainly flummoxed last night—but they do scrap and battle for each other and for the shirt.
At some point, of course, the Timbers are going to have to put together a winning streak. They’re going to have to win a big game. Maybe even a big home game. So far this season, that’s been too much to ask. But thanks to their inability to go away, this maddening team is going to get another shot at glory.
