It’s Wednesday, and I’m still riding the wave of the Timbers’ fantastic win over San Jose, maybe the best team in MLS. It was an entirely different team than the one that was taken to school in Colorado only three days ago. The first half showed us some of the most dynamic passing, running, and overall offense that we’ve seen from the boys in green all season. It’s a great win, and it takes us within a game of the playoffs for the first time in recent memory.
It’s also another in a long line of streaks that these Timbers have ended. Winning streaks, losing streaks, undefeated streaks … it seems that when the Timbers take the pitch, win or lose, the form sheet goes out the window. Here’s a list of some of the recent notable times this has occurred:
August 3, 2011: LA Galaxy come to Portland on a 14-game unbeaten streak and winners of three straight. Result: Timbers win 3-0.
April 21, 2012: Sporting Kansas City come to Jeld-Wen undefeated for the season, after starting the season 7-0-0. Result: Portland wins 1-0.
June 17, 2012: LA Galaxy are winless in eight matches, and lost four in a row, when they host the Timbers. Result: LA wins 1-0.
June 30, 2012: Colorado are on a 3-game losing streak coming into their home match with the Timbers. Result: Rapids win 3-0.
July 3, 2012: San Jose come to Jeld-Wen Field as the top team in the West, on a 3-game MLS winning streak. Result: Timbers win 2-1.
Say what you will about this team – they’ll surprise you if you try to predict them on form. July is massive for the Timbers, with five more matches still to play this month, four of which (two vs. Chivas, one vs. LA and one vs. Dallas) that are basically six-pointers in the race for the last playoff spot. This busy week ends on Saturday in Salt Lake. A point there would be a great result, and a win would instantly put us in the playoff hunt. But the road is a very different place for these Timbers, so we’ll have to bring some of that Jeld-Wen magic with us. RCTID.
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