The Timbers Fall at Home to Cascadia Rival Vancouver, BC

The air hung hot and heavy in Providence Park much like the mood and atmosphere in the Timbers Army as Portland hosted Cascadia rival, the Vancouver Whitecaps. The Timbers fired head coach Giovani Savarase last week after a 0-5 loss in Houston and this has led to uncertainty about the rest of the season for the Timbers, who currently sit five points below the playoff line. Miles Joseph, the former assistant coach, has been named as interim head coach as Portland’s front office goes through the process of finding a new head coach. 

Vancouver started the match with a strong attack. In the 2nd minute, Ali Ahmed sent a right footed shot from the center of the box that went high and wide to the right of goal. He was assisted by Richie Laryea with a cross.

The Whitecaps continued to press and their effort paid off early with a goal in the 13th minute. Senior midfielder, Ryan Gauld, took a left footed shot from very close range to the bottom right corner of the net. Forward, Brian White, had the assist.

The Timbers responded to the goal by slowing down the momentum of the match and taking their time to set up their attack. The effort almost paid off when a header by forward Felipe Mora was caught in the box by Vancouver’s keeper, Yohei Takaoka, in the 26th minute. 

Timbers defender, Dario Zuparic, had a header in the 33rd minute following a corner that went high and wide. He had the assist on the following play to Dairon Asprilla, who’s bicycle kick just missed the goal by a fraction to the left. In the following minute, Evander earned the Timbers first yellow card for a cheap foul.

In the 36th minute, Vancouver’s Brian White jumped over the head of Claudio Bravo just inside the goal to win the header off a cross by Ryan Gauld sending the ball to the back of the net. Vancouver 2, Timbers 0. 

Vancouver continued to push through the final minutes of the first half with an attempt by Ranko Veselinovic that missed to the left in the 45th minute immediately followed by a header by White that was saved by the post. The first half ended with the Whitecaps on top 2-0.

Portland came out of the locker room with a purpose. Evander had the first attempt of the second half in the 49th minute off a header pass from Christian Paredes following a corner. Zuparic picked up the second team yellow in the 51st for a rough foul. 

In the 53rd minute Dairon Asprilla sent a beautiful long ball into the center of the goal, finding Mora, who delivered a textbook header to the back of the net. The Timbers are on the board 2-1. 

When asked about the shift at the half, Coach Joseph said in a post match interview, “We trained this week on the wide triangles and trying to open up the field especially against Vancouver.So the first half we were getting a little bit too narrow. So we presented some video at halftime and they corrected it. We needed to get to the end-line more and we did. We got a goal out of it.” 

The Timbers momentum came to a crashing halt when Evander was called for a penalty over a sloppy, unnecessary foul against midfielder Richie Laryea in the 58th minute. Vancouver capitalized on the opportunity when Ryan Gauld’s penalty kick just missed the gloves of a diving David Bigham to put the Whitecaps up 3-1. 

Asprilla made his way into head referee Rosendo Mendoza’s book by earning a yellow card in the 63rd minute after being warned with a foul just minutes before. Vancouver midfielder Andrés Cubas was given Vancouver’s first yellow three minutes later for a bad foul.

The Timbers made a big substitution in the 66th minute bringing on Santiano Moreno for Asprilla, Sebastian Blanco for Yimmi Chara, and Franck Boli in for Mora. Moreno’s first big contribution came just minutes later when he provided the assist to Juan Mosquera who’s right footed shot was saved by Takaoka.

More substitutions were made in the 79th minute by both teams. Vancouver substituted in defender Mathías Laborda in for Javain Brown and homegrown midfielder Sebastian Berhalter in for Alessandro Schöpf. Portland replaced midfielder Christian Paredes with newly acquired forward Antony Alves Santos. This was his first match with the Timbers. Timbers defender Zac McGraw was brought into the match in the 83rd minute for Miguel Araujo. 

The substitutions seemed to breathe new life into the Timbers and in the 85th minute Blanco made a perfect one touch pass to Evander who, with one touch, sent the ball into goal. Timbers 2, Vancouver 3. Two minutes later Mosquera sent a high ball into service connecting with McGraw for a header for what would be the equalizer but it was saved in the bottom left corner of the goal.

Vancouver made their final substitutions in the 89th minute bringing on Pedro Vite for Laryea and homegrown midfielder Russell Teibert in for Gauld. 

Two more yellow cards were earned in stoppage time. Boli earned one for the Timbers in 90+5 followed by one for Vancouver in the 90+6. 

Bravo had the last big play of the match in the 90+7 with a shot on goal that was saved. Blanco had the assist. The final whistle blew with the Timbers being defeated at home. Vancouver 3, Timbers 2. 

Miles Joseph had this to say about the match, “(It’s) Frustrating because I thought in the second half, we did enough to pull it even. Unfortunately we had a penalty kick. It happens. You know, when you’re pushing to win or tie a game like that, you have moments where, you know, some of those mistakes happen or unfortunate things happen. But we pushed and I think we came out in the second half, we identified some things at halftime and we looked really good in the second half.”