The Portland Timbers drew the Houston Dynamo 2-2 in a back-and-forth match at Providence Park on Saturday night. Houston took the lead twice via Sebastian Kowalczyk and Coco Carrasquilla, but Portland battled back to tie the game twice with goals from Felipe Mora and Nathan Fogaca, and the game ended with points shared.
With the matches coming thick and fast, Phil Neville opted for more rotation in Portland’s starting XI. Maxime Crepeau came in for Wednesday’s hero James Pantemis, and Claudio Bravo made his return to the left back spot. Miguel Araujo and David Ayala moved to the bench, as Cristhian Paredes got the start next to Diego Chara in the middle of the pitch.
This match was the last that Araujo, Crepeau, and Kamal Miller would play with Portland before departing for international duty for the Copa America.
The Timbers came out of the gates pressing Houston early, and it almost generated an early chance. But it left them open for a quick counter from the Dynamo, which nearly resulted in a goal if not for the timely intervention of the body (and tucked-in elbow) of Claudio Bravo.
Despite that early warning sign, the Timbers did not shape up defensively — and were punished in the 8th minute on a set piece yet again. Hector Herrera sent in a corner kick which bounced around in the box without a clearance, and Sebastian Kowalczyk swept home the loose ball to open the scoring for the visitors.
The Timbers sagged in the middle chunk of the first half, as Portland lacked the energy necessary to meet the quick passing and movement of the Dynamo. Perhaps it was because the Timbers were playing their third game in eight days, or perhaps it was because of the rotation in the lineup, but for whatever reason, there wasn’t a great deal of urgency in Portland’s attack in the minutes after they fell behind.
However, as the half wore on the Timbers started to wake up. Spurred on by their catalyst Evander, Portland was able to start generating more looks offensively and push the Dynamo on their heels.
Ironically though, it would be a counterattack in the 37th minute that would tie affairs.
A quick and decisive pass from Evander played in Jonathan Rodriguez in behind in space, and the Uruguayan drove into the box and then laid the ball off for Felipe Mora who was streaking in just behind the play. Pipe did what he has been doing best as of late and expertly slotted the ball into the bottom corner to bring Portland back on level terms.
Spurred on by the goal, the Timbers pressed their newfound energy. The Dynamo appeared to have no answers as wave after wave of Portland attack came. Were it not for a lack of decisiveness — and perhaps a lack of needed selfishness — from Portland’s attackers, the Timbers could have gone into halftime ahead.
Alas, the match was all square when the halftime whistle blew. It was a credit to Phil Neville’s side though that they shook off a slow start to work their way back into the game.
Portland would wind up kicking themselves that they weren’t able to grab that second — because the Dynamo did just out of halftime. Portland’s defense was slow to react after a poor pass gave Hector Herrera the ball, and played a sublime pass to Coco Carrasquilla in Portland’s box. The noted Timbers-killer fired a low shot past Crepeau, and Houston took the lead once again in the 50th minute.
And so, the Timbers found themselves right where they were at the start of the match: trailing after starting a half slow.
The parallels didn’t stop there, as Portland once more appeared the lack the energy needed to get back into the game again. Houston started to suck the life out of the game, and subsequently sucked the energy out of Providence Park.
But the parallels didn’t even stop there, as another piece of Evander magic combined with an inspired sub from Neville would bring Portland level once again.
Nathan Fogaca entered the fray in the 75th minute, and then a minute later drew a foul in the attacking third. Evander stepped to the ball and served in an excellent free kick, and it was Nathan who was first to rise to meet it. His header flashed by Andrew Tarbell and into the back of the net, and Providence Park erupted as Nathan scored to tie the game once more.
With the scoreline even and the wind at Portland’s back, the Timbers pressed for a winner. A frenetic final fifteen minutes saw a Houston goal get called back after a VAR reviewed offside call, and then Portland somehow fail to score after several close chances.
Evander uncorked a rifle of a hit that pinged off the crossbar in the 89th minute, and on an ensuing corner kick Nathan hit the bar with the a header. The ball hit the turf right in front of the goal, and Kamal Miller had a shot cleared off the line as bodies flew every which way.
Despite Portland’s final pushes, they nor Houston were able to find the back of the net. The Timbers won they eye test, the expected goals battle, and the general vibes test, but didn’t win what counted: the game. The match ended 2-2 to close out a tough seven point week for Portland.
Seven points from three games is nothing to sneeze at, especially when considering Portland has now lost just once in its last five games. The past week has lifted Portland into the playoff spot and ninth place in the Western Conference, which is objectively a better place than they were three weeks ago.
Still, you can’t help but feel just a wee bit frustrated after this one. Not winning a game which was right there for them takes a bit of the shine off of the week, and it means that Portland isn’t as high up the table as they could have — and perhaps should have — been.
More importantly, this week showed that despite this team figuring out how to get results, they still have quite a bit of work to do if they want to start doing so consistently. The defense is still prone to mistakes and lapses which result in goals, and despite a propensity to score goals the offense still can go MIA for stretches during a match when it needs to be locked in.
As a result, we are left with a flawed Timbers team which has yet to achieve consistency in 2024. Maybe they never will. But for now, we’ve seen enough to know that we indeed need to stick around and watch to see if they figure it out.
Scoring Summary:
Portland: Mora (37’), Fogaca (76’)
Houston: Kowalczyk (8’), Carrasquilla (50’)
Next Up:
Portland hits the road again as they travel to Missouri to take on St. Louis City on June 8. Kickoff from Citypark is set for 5:30 p.m. PT.
