PORTLAND — So far this season, every time the Portland Timbers have crept within sight of the top half of the Western Conference, they have stumbled.
So it was on Friday as one defensive breakdown by the home team produced the only goal that counted and a depleted Sporting Kansas City team played rock-solid defense to frustrate the Timbers in a 1-0 win for the visitors at Providence Park.
Instead of climbing to third in the Western Conference with a win, the Timbers hit the midway point of their schedule in sixth place at 4-5-8, and with most of their competition having more than 17 games remaining. Portland has one win, seven draws and two losses in 10 league home matches, a frustrating truth for a club that expects more in front of its boisterous home fans.
Friday’s match played out as 12 of the first 17 have, with an opponent scoring the first goal and forcing the Timbers to scramble back. Despite 31 crosses and 79 percent of possession, the Timbers couldn’t find a way to score against one of the league’s best defenses.
“We have put ourselves in a position far too many times where we’ve conceded the first goal. And usually it’s out of a play that should never happen,” Timbers coach Caleb Porter, counting Kansas City’s goal as a prime example.
Lawrence Olum, who played for the Timbers before Portland joined MLS, scored in the 24th minute. A Seth Sinovic throw-in from deep on the left wing landed in traffic where Kevin Ellis touched the ball to Olum with time to turn and fire a low shot from 8 yards into the goal.
Portland thought it had the lead in the 15th minute when Fanendo Adi headed home a cross from Darlington Nagbe. But linesman Mike Kampmeinert ruled that Adi’s upper body was offside when Nagbe sent the cross into the box.
Adi disagreed with the decision. In his postgame comments, Porter said he hadn’t yet seen the replay.
“It’s a bit discouraging when the goal is disallowed,” Adi said. “As players you start thinking about why it was disallowed. That was a good goal. That was a clean goal. That was not offside.
“We are a young team and every player starts thinking about that and starts to get you distracted a little bit,” Adi added.
Kansas City never wavered, dropping most of its team deep into its defensive third but in front of the 18-yard box, effectively squeezing the life from Portland’s attack my taking away space and fouling (23 times) to disrupt any flow in the Timbers attack.
Porter called it a smart play by a Sporting team ravaged by injuries and missing Graham Zusi and Matt Besler who are busy playing in the World Cup.
“They were content to sit behind the ball. I don’t blame them. It’s a smart tactic,” Porter said. “If we get that first goal the whole game is different.”
Diego Valeri noted that the Timbers tried every avenue possible to try to find a goal.
“We tried to cross from every side of the field. We tried to make overloads, and to shoot from long distance,” Valeri said. “But when you have a big (defensive) block it’s very tough. You need to be effective and if you have one chance you have to score.”
On Friday, one of the top offenses in MLS was stymied by one of the best defenses. And the Timbers again made their job more difficult by conceding a first-half goal and failing to take advantage of their home park.
“We’re going to create goals,” Porter said. “We just can’t keep relying on “Operation Come From Behind.”
