Timbers Avoid Rapture, Remain Perfect at Home

The Portland Timbers (5-3-2, 17 points) hosted the Columbus Crew (3-3-4, 13 points) at Jeld-Wen Field on Saturday in the first of a three game home stand. Let’s go over the game by the numbers.

PTFC Perfect from Juliet Zulu on Vimeo. 

1998

The last time any team in Major League Soccer started the season with five wins at home and Portland is the first expansion side to do so. The Timbers have outscored their opponents 10-4 within the friendly confines of Jeld-Wen field and have not conceded a goal in the past 273 minutes of play at home.

4 & 606

Number of cautions issued during the game which was arguably the chippiest one yet. Remarkably this game also marks the first time the defender “Futty” Danso has picked up a foul this season after which he quickly doubled his season total to 2. He had previously gone 606 minutes without drawing the attention of a referee. Having said that it was a foul as the second half got under way that set up Eric Brunner’s goal.

5

Number of assists that both Jack Jewsbury and Kahlif Alhassan have on the season. The pair of midfielders combined for another swift free kick which led to Brunner’s goal. After the quick restart to the right side of the penalty box Jewsbury made a pass to Alhassan who was in position to float it to Brunner who was waiting on the far post to head it across the goal. The goal for Brunner, having grown up in Columbus and played for his hometown team the past two years, had a special feeling to it. “The [Timbers] picked me up in the Expansion Draft and had faith in me,” Brunner added. “To get a goal against [my old team] is pretty special.”

69

Percentage of Timber’s goals that have resulted from a set piece. This trend continues Portland’s impressive use of set pieces to capitalize on opportunities to score. To date Portland has scored a league-leading nine goals from a set piece on Saturday. In total, of the team’s 13 goals this year, 9 of them have come from set pieces.

338

Number of minutes it has been since a forward from the Timbers has scored. While Portland has continued to amass points during that run, the Brunner goal has brought the defender’s total amount of goals scored to 5, even with Cooper and Perlaza. This will need to change if the Timbers look to pick up points on the road.

The Portland Timbers have a pair of games this week facing Ajax and D.C. United who both squared off at RFK over the weekend.