Timbers, Dynamo finish in 0-0 tie

HOUSTON — The Portland Timbers earned a point on the road after a 0-0 result against the Houston Dynamo at PNC Stadium on Saturday.

The Timbers (2-2-4) have earned at least one point in three of their four road matches this season. The result extended Portland’s unbeaten streak against Houston to seven straight matches (4-0-3), dating back to May 15, 2019.

In his 14th career MLS start, Aljaz Ivacic had four saves in goal for Portland.

Ivacic robbed winger Fafa Picault on two occasions, first during an 18th-minute breakaway and then via a 64th-minute flicked-on header.

“In the moment that we were struggling in the first half (Ivacic) was the one who kept us in the game,” Portland coach Giovanni Savarese said. “He performed very, very well.

“Some of the saves he put in today were moments in which we could have been penalized. Those saves kept us in the game. He’s showing his quality, he’s showing that he is maturing and we saw that fully here in Houston.”

Portland was dealt a man advantage in the 75th minute when Dynamo center back Teenage Hadebe was shown a second yellow card for fouling Yimmi Chara, reducing his squad to 10 men.

But the Timbers couldn’t capitalize. Their best chance came in the 39th minute when Cristhian Paredes’ volley from atop the box was parried away by Dynamo goalkeeper Steve Clark, who was facing his old team for the first time.

Clark made three saves for Houston (3-1-3).

MILESTONES

Diego Chara committed his 757th career foul, breaking the all-time Major League Soccer record previously held by Kyle Beckerman.

Sebastián Blanco surpassed 10,000 regular season minutes played for Portland. He is just the fifth player in Timbers history to log 10,000 minutes while with the club behind Diego Chara, Jack Jewsbury, Darlington Nagby and Diego Valeri.

NEXT UP

The Timbers will return home to host Real Salt Lake at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 23 at Providence Park. The match will be televised on FOX 12 PLUS, Channel 49 (Comcast cable Channel 13).

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TIMBERS 0, DYNAMO 0

Portland 0 0—0

Houston 0 0—0

First Half—None.

Second Half—None.

Goalies—Portland, Aljaz Ivacic, David Bingham; Houston, Steve Clark, Xavier Valdez.

Yellow Cards—Paredes, Portland, 16th; Blanco, Portland, 27th; Hadebe, Houston, 27th; Chara, Portland, 49th; Tuiloma, Portland, 81st.

Referee—Rosendo Mendoza. Assistant Referees—Cory Richardson, Kevin Klinger, Daniel Radford. 4th Official—Ramy Touchan.

A—13,650.

Lineups

Portland—Aljaz Ivacic; Claudio Bravo, Larrys Mabiala, Bill Tuiloma, Jose Van Rankin (Dario Zuparic, 83rd); Sebastian Blanco (Eryk Williamson, 82nd), Diego Chara, Santiago Moreno (Marvin Loria, 71st), Cristhian Paredes (David Ayala, 63rd); Yimmi Chara, Jaroslaw Niezgoda (Dairon Asprilla, 62nd).

Houston—Steve Clark; Teenage Hadebe, Adam Lundqvist, Tim Parker, Tyler Pasher (Corey Baird, 59th); Adalberto Carrasquilla, Griffin Dorsey (Zeca, 59th), Fafa Picault, Matias Vera (Memo Rodriguez, 78th); Sebastian Ferreira (Thorleifur Ulfarsson, 67th), Darwin Quintero (Ethan Bartlow, 78th).