The Timbers win their first MLS game in Portland at Merlo field on a cold rainy night. With Jeld-Wen Field not ready until April, the Timbers played host in their Open Cup match to Chivas USA at the University of Portland Merlo filed in front of a sell out crowd of 5061 fans. This was the first chance that the fans got to see their team play this season in Portland.
Portland came out of the gates on fire as Colombian forward Jorge Perlaza crossed the ball to Kenny Cooper who;s header was just over the cross bar in the opening drive. The Timbers continued to push the ball forward but they did not find the net. Perlaza had the best chances to score as he put one shot wide of the goal and his header was stopped by the keeper. Their Timbers found themselves offsides six times in the first half.
Chivas forward Marcos Mondaini was booked for diving in the box early in the match. Chivas defender Andrew Boyens was hammering the Portland players and got his second yellow card just before the half. Being a man down did not stop Chivas picking up their game as they were able to get two break aways. Portland’s 20 year old keeper Jake Gleeson pulled off big saves on both of those attempts.
The Timbers first goal came in the last part of the match as Jack Jewsbury low hard shot from 35 yards out beat the keeper just inside the post. The second goal was a corner kick the Jewsbury sent in that defender Eric Brunner put in.
This was by far the Timbers best match this season. They played better defense and had better control of the match. They still need to deal with better service to the forwards as it seems that time and time again passes were not finding their targets. On Saturday they travel to New England for their next match.
The Timbers move on to play San Jose in the next round of the Open Cup.
Check out after match interviews at Dropping Timbers,
