It was, quite simply, one of the least surprising goals ever conceded by the Portland Timbers from the all-too-predictable run of play.
This game had set up perfectly: The shaky Timbers plodded into the StubHub Center in Carson, California with a back-line that had never played together before and a need to win arguably greater than a need not to lose.
Portland creaked through the first fifteen minutes at 0-0 courtesy of a Marcelo Sarvas stinging a shot off the post and some lovely goalkeeping from Donovan Ricketts to deny the ever bellicose Robbie Keane. The Timbers got to halftime without too much concern nor promise, and then cracked: Sarvas making amends and driving a Landon Donovan pass in to give LA the lead.
Then, of course, the Timbers started playing for real: Always good for three minutes per game in which they look like the best team in the world, an effervescent Diego Valeri and pleasant surprise Jorge Villafana both scored to put the Timbers up one.
So, you see, it all set up very nicely: Portland would get their inevitable draw, they’d finish another predictably exciting game against the Galaxy, getting a point from Operation Come From Behind while throwing away a chance at three with a showcase of silly defending.
As Portland dropped deeper and deeper, telling a defense headed by Raushawn McKenzie and Danny O’Rourke to go on and lead the heroic rearguard action that would carry the team to victory, Donovan spun a ball over the top for Baggio Husidic, who played it across the goalmouth. It was met there by McKenzie who swung and spun the ball into his own net.
It finished 2-2 – on balance, a very decent road point for the Timbers, but another head-shaking display of battiness.
In that respect, it was a That’s So Timbers masterpiece.
The good, the bad, the ugly – it was all there. And that may be how you entertain, but it’s not how you make the playoffs. If you’re not going to win at home, you have to win on the road. The Timbers needed more from this game.
In truth, the Timbers were lucky to get a point. Donovan Ricketts was huge in his former home, silencing the murmurs that Portland need to start looking for the goalkeeper’s replacement. Bruce Arena, his former coach in LA, said he may be the best goalkeeper in MLS history.
His save on Keane early in the match was clinical, as he used his size and sheer volume to make the Irishman’s angle nil. His save on Juninho’s late free-kick utilized his wingspan and reaction time – he made an almost identical save against Juninho last year in Portland that kept the Timbers in that July game to set up Andrew Jean-Baptiste’s famous winner.
Even though Ricketts’ play with his feet makes Diana Ross look like a competent soccer player, it’s important to realize that he’s been a very positive presence on this team this year behind a comically incompetent and ever-changing back-line.
Ricketts clearly enjoyed the occasion, glad-handing his former teammates in his former home.
There were other bright spots. In front of Ricketts, Jorge Villafana – also in his former home from his seven years with Chivas USA – was a revelation. He was directly involved in setting up Diego Valeri’s equalizer, and he took his chance just some 200 seconds later with verve.
Villafana’s simple, quick running and crossing game makes him a valuable player, even if the jury is still out on his ability as a defender in a capable defense.
It does make you wonder though: Where was Villafana at the beginning of the year? Villafana wasn’t even making the bench for the first two months of the season. He made his Timbers debut because of Alvas Powell’s red card against the Columbus Crew.
Villafana did reasonably well in that game, and then, hello, he has started every MLS game since. Meanwhile, Powell has been shipped to Sacremento. Does Caleb Porter know who his best players are? Or are the margins that thin, that susceptible to luck, to get into the Timbers team?
Villafana’s rise has consigned Jack Jewsbury to utility sub, even though Jewsbury is a better fullback than Michael Harrington.
Jewsbury will be needed at Seattle next weekend, because of Diego Chara’s takedown of Donovan on the edge of the penalty area that got his suspension-clinching yellow card.
Chara also missed last year’s summer trip to Seattle through a yellow-card accumulation suspension, and he’ll be a big miss at Seattle – the team he scored twice against in April at Providence Park.
Other good news: The Timbers offense still looks good. Gaston Fernandez’s play ranges from tidy to game-changing, Diego Valeri is terrific, and Fanendo Adi is a handful. Portland has only kept two clean sheets in their last 25 games. That’s the problem. If the defense is better, this is a playoff team.
Instead, we get one crazy game after another. The Timbers are just now hitting a rich vein of nationally televised games, but the likes of NBC and ESPN missed out early this year. The Timbers never fail to entertain.
LA played well, but their forwards failed to spark. McKenzie turned in his McKenzie moment late, but O’Rourke deserves real praise for a solid 90 minutes, and the lack of effective play from Keane and Gyasi Zardes hurt the Galaxy, who were terrific in midfield.
That effort was led by Donovan, who was instrumental in LA’s attack, never gave the ball away, assisted the first goal and set up the second one. Perhaps LA missed Omar Gonzalez at the back, but Portland were worth their goals.
The moral of the story is this: The Timbers are a lot of fun – unless you like to win.
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