It was early in the match – before Real Salt Lake opened the scoring and before the Timbers answered by taking over – that Portland put together a 15-odd pass move that ended with Diego Valeri forcing a fine save out of Jeff Attinella off a flick-on header.
It was a sign of things to come. The Timbers looked assured, composed and superior for 90 solid minutes on Saturday night at the Rio Tinto Stadium, expelling some of the many demons tucked away in Sandy, Utah, and giving Portland their first win over Salt Lake since the two sides’ first meeting in the Timbers MLS infancy in 2011.
Fanendo Adi bagged the goals again, but it was a terrific all-around performance from Portland’s attacking corps – and the most impressive feat of the night fell to Darlington Nagbe, who got US-national teamer Tony Beltran two yellow cards and an early bath in the space of 30 seconds.
It was as if Nagbe flicked a switch and said, “You know, Beltran is looking a little tired. I think he’s played long enough.”
Ismail Elfath felt so bad for poor old Beltran, it took him a while to do his duty and show the second yellow just seconds after showing the first. But it was a stone cold red, just as the Timbers’ first penalty of the year was when Steve Zakuani – with able assistance from Diego Valeri – put together his best possession of the year, which culminated in a handball on Chris Schuler.
Will Johnson dispatched the penalty with ease and kept his celebrations muted against his former club – but the joy flowed for the Timbers.
Beating RSL at the Rio Tinto feels especially good for Portland. It makes you think back to how it all unraveled there last year on short rest in the Western Conference final first leg, when the Timbers lost their season in a 4-2 torrent.
Of course, it’s worth mentioning that the team Portland beat Saturday night was nowhere near RSL’s best – Kyle Beckerman was severely missed, as were the likes of Alvaro Saborio, Robbie Findley, and Nick Rimando. With all those absences, the Timbers knew they had a chance in this game, and they delievered.
It helped that Caleb Porter nailed his team selection for one of the first times all year. Going away from Maxi Urruti to Adi was the right decision. No disrespect to Urruti, who has rebounded nicely from an infuriatingly bad start to the season, but he’s the Timbers’ second best forward and it’s not close. Adi should be starting games. He showed why again tonight.
It was also nice to see Gaston Fernandez in the team. His play has merited a start, and it was smart of Porter to push Diego Valeri wide and let Fernandez play his natural position. It was the other way around when Fernandez was starting earlier in the year.
Everything about Fernandez ranges from cool to sly – his demeanor, his style of play, and his movement. The La Gata nickname is well-deserved. He was integral on the Timbers’ first two goals. It was Fernandez hitting Nagbe on the break for the rebounded shot that Adi riffled in for number two. On the first goal, Valeri hit Fernandez with a bomb of a pass that led to the corner that Adi planted in.
Donovan Ricketts was the man who started the sequence that led to the second goal with a sublime save. Ricketts played his best game of the season, and Jake Gleeson’s presence in Salt Lake suggested that the Timbers feared for his health beforehand.
The goals are flowing at this point in the year. The offense is clicking, and this without a single goal from Darlington Nagbe, who once again had chances but couldn’t stick in his first.
Defense is still a problem – the unit looked shaky early and Norberto Paparatto may once again miss a period of time with injury, but I doubt Portland goes too far into July without shaking that unit up. Getting Michael Harrington back will be nice too, as well as Jorge Villafana has done.
Real Salt Lake were punchless offensively – unlike Vancouver – and it’s worth noting that Portland set out on a killer stretch of games after the World Cup break. But tonight, they couldn’t score with Adi.
The question with the Nigerian forward is whether he’ll want to stay in Portland, not if Portland will want him to stay. The Timbers will buy Adi at the end of his loan spell, but that’s counting on Adi being willing to give up Champions League and European football – at least for the time being – at 23 years old and in terrific form.
Playing in Portland and scoring goals is fun – but we may just find out soon how fun it really is. Portland will get one forward in the summer, if it’s Adi for a fixed price, money will be freed up to pursue a top center-back.
Credit has to go in large part to Diego Valeri for Adi’s prolifics, and it’s in large part due to Valeri and his league-leading eight assists that Portland has turned things around on the attack.
The Timbers should be capable of great things on offense with a target forward providing a second dimension. The team has figured out their spacing, and the performances of Nagbe, Valeri, and Fernandez go some way to dispel the notion that the Timbers have to play with an out and out winger. It will be interesting to see where Rodney Wallace – who is in Arizona at a time he wanted to be in Brazil – fits in when he comes back.
Surprisingly enough, it’s three straight road wins that have the Timbers clawing their way back to dry land just in time for the World Cup break. On Saturday night, for the first time ever, Portland won at Real Salt Lake – and it was no more than they deserved.
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