Where they stand: Portland (11-8-7, 40 points) is tied for third in the West pending the rest of the weekend. The Timbers trail Los Angeles (43 points) and Vancouver (42 points) and are tied with Sporting Kansas City, though SKC has three games in hand on Portland. FC Dallas (38 points) plays at Vancouver Saturday). Houston (9-10-6, 32 points) is tied for seventh in the West.
Chara’s red card: Diego Chara received a red card in stoppage time for an elbow foul as Chara raced to break up a budding Houston counter attack. Chara will miss Portland’s visit to Seattle on Aug. 30.
Were those handballs? Twice in the first half the Timbers appealed for a handball call that would have meant a penalty kick. Referee Ricardo Salazar said the first of them, off a corner kick in the 22nd minute, hit a Houston player on the chest but he did not see a handball. In the 42nd minute, a Melano cross appeared to hit the forearm of a Houston defender just inside the box. Explained Salazar: “In the 42nd minute, the ball is kicked directly into the player who’s got his arm tucked into his body and is not making himself bigger, so I do not deem this to be a handling offense against the opponent.”
Defensive at Providence Park: The Timbers are 7-1-5 at home this season. They have conceded nine goals through their 13 home games.
Where they stand: Portland (11-8-7, 40 points) is tied for third in the West pending the rest of the weekend. The Timbers trail Los Angeles (43 points) and Vancouver (42 points) and are tied with Sporting Kansas City, though SKC has three games in hand on Portland. FC Dallas (38 points) plays at Vancouver Saturday). Houston (9-10-6, 32 points) is tied for seventh in the West.
Chara's red card: Diego Chara received a red card in stoppage time for an elbow foul as Chara raced to break up a budding Houston counter attack. Chara will miss Portland's visit to Seattle on Aug. 30.
Were those handballs? Twice in the first half the Timbers appealed for a handball call that would have meant a penalty kick. Referee Ricardo Salazar said the first of them, off a corner kick in the 22nd minute, hit a Houston player on the chest but he did not see a handball. In the 42nd minute, a Melano cross appeared to hit the forearm of a Houston defender just inside the box. Explained Salazar: "In the 42nd minute, the ball is kicked directly into the player who's got his arm tucked into his body and is not making himself bigger, so I do not deem this to be a handling offense against the opponent."
Defensive at Providence Park: The Timbers are 7-1-5 at home this season. They have conceded nine goals through their 13 home games.
Up next: The Timbers travel to Seattle to play the Sounders one week from Sunday (Aug. 30) in a nationally televised afternoon Cascadia Cup clash.
Up next: The Timbers travel to Seattle to play the Sounders one week from Sunday (Aug. 30) in a nationally televised afternoon Cascadia Cup clash.
His team desperate for a tying tally, Diego Valeri saw four or five teammates crashing towards the goal, so he whipped a cross into the mix.
The way things bounced for the Portland Timbers much of Friday night in Providence Park, Valeri’s 86th-minute pass figured to somehow find an orange-clad defender. But this time, the quick foot of Lucas Melano rose to meet the ball, deflecting it in for the dramatic tying goal that earned the Timbers a 2-2 draw with the Houston Dynamo.
“We had four or five people there in the box. I knew that someone could touch the ball and put it in the net,” Valeri said.
That it was fellow Argentine Melano made it more meaningful.
“I’m really happy for him because he played a very good game,” Valeri said. “He created a lot of chances. He played well. Then he scored a goal.”
That Melano, in his first 90-minute performance for the Timbers, scored his first MLS goal was one of several positives to emerge from what looked like it might be a dispiriting night. The Timbers, after dominating the first 40 minutes, found themselves behind 2-0 at halftime.
Valeri called it a good point in the standings, because of the way the Timbers fought back and because it keeps Houston eight points back of the Timbers.
“I’m really happy about the point. But I’m especially happy about the way we found the point,” Valeri said.
The Timbers spent much of the second half on the attack. But it appeared the Dynamo would survive by crowding the box with defenders and letting goalkeeper Tyler Deric play big.
Deric was credited with five saves and turned away a couple of Valeri blasts.
“We got a lot of chances,” Valeri said. “I think the goalkeeper of Houston did a great job. In the end we played as a team and as a team we got a point that’s very important.”
The first Portland goal, from Darlington Nagbe in the 76th minute, is one the Houston keeper will be kicking himself for allowing. Nagbe made a strong run with the ball from the right side of midfield, played a quick combination with Melano at the top of the 18, then found the ball in space. His shot spun between the legs of the onrushing Deric to give the Timbers life.
To see Nagbe score his second goal of the season (and third in two years) was as exciting to Valeri as was Melano’s. Valeri calls Nagbe the most naturally gifted player on the Timbers.
Every game he creates a lot of chances. He’s very important for us, and in these style of games we need (contributions) from everybody,” Valeri said.
So, while they did not get the win they badly wanted, the Timbers did show resolve and that they can indeed come from behind. Perhaps, too, the goals from Nagbe and Melano will finally be the spark the Portland attack is looking for.
