Because let's be honest; it's not so much the fact that the Timbers managed to yet again snatch a draw from the jaws of victory as it is the galling way in which they contrived to pull it off. A draw would not be nearly so vexing had it been due to a rally to come from behind rather than the traditional "we forget how to defend for a few minutes after every goal we score," that to the contrary, allowed a basically outplayed and solidly beaten Galaxy to come away with a draw on the road that should have been a loss.
On the plus side, the game itself was fast-paced, full of action but not too chippy, fairly well refereed --without any of the egregious calls that so often mar MLS competition-- and in general, a credit to the league's ongoing journey to international relevancy.
The match began at a good clip with the Timbers pressing early for a decent look at goal on a Nagbe pass to Adi in the third minute. The Galaxy, for their part, were not impressed and managed to collar two corner kicks in the first 20 minutes with some dangerous-looking pressure of their own. It was a real back and forth until the 31st minute when the Timbers launched a flawless counter that covered the distance of the pitch in a series of passes from Chara to Nagbe to Wallace and finally to Adi who barely stayed onside while managing to slot it home inside the far post.
The champs seemed to take this as a personal affront and pushed hard for the remainder, determined, it appeared, to find an equalizer before the half.
Nothing doing. While the Timbers defense didn't look stellar, it did look functional (as opposed to last year's) and new backline additions, Asprilla and Borchers, together with Kwarasey at goalkeeper, displayed an encouraging level of competence.
Early in the second half, the Timbers seemed to lose their mojo and gave up several dangerous opportunities to Keane and Zardes, LA's rightly-feared pair of forwards, neither of whom are accustomed to missing such giveaways. In the 65th minute Zardes hammered home this rather obvious point as the Galaxy easily put together a counter that ended with a Villareal pass into the box that Zardes tapped in to bring the score even.
The rest of the half was played at a similar pace as a handful of subs brought fresh legs to the field, but both sides kept it together and it very much looked as if, barring any last minute melt-downs on the part of the Timbers (something that they are unfortunately known for), the match would end with a 1:1 draw.
However, this is not how we do things in Portland. No sir. First, on another brilliant counter in the 89th minute, Nagbe passed across the box to Adi who adjusted a trifle before knocking it in, and then, in the 92nd minute, with one minute of stoppage left, the Timbers plum forgot to defend, let LA take another corner, and got ready to cry themselves to sleep as Galaxy sub, Gordon, marked by a guy half his size, easily headed it in for the draw.
Other Notes and Questions:
On the plus side, the game itself was fast-paced, full of action but not too chippy, fairly well refereed --without any of the egregious calls that so often mar MLS competition-- and in general, a credit to the league's ongoing journey to international relevancy.
The match began at a good clip with the Timbers pressing early for a decent look at goal on a Nagbe pass to Adi in the third minute. The Galaxy, for their part, were not impressed and managed to collar two corner kicks in the first 20 minutes with some dangerous-looking pressure of their own. It was a real back and forth until the 31st minute when the Timbers launched a flawless counter that covered the distance of the pitch in a series of passes from Chara to Nagbe to Wallace and finally to Adi who barely stayed onside while managing to slot it home inside the far post.
The champs seemed to take this as a personal affront and pushed hard for the remainder, determined, it appeared, to find an equalizer before the half.
Nothing doing. While the Timbers defense didn't look stellar, it did look functional (as opposed to last year's) and new backline additions, Asprilla and Borchers, together with Kwarasey at goalkeeper, displayed an encouraging level of competence.
Early in the second half, the Timbers seemed to lose their mojo and gave up several dangerous opportunities to Keane and Zardes, LA's rightly-feared pair of forwards, neither of whom are accustomed to missing such giveaways. In the 65th minute Zardes hammered home this rather obvious point as the Galaxy easily put together a counter that ended with a Villareal pass into the box that Zardes tapped in to bring the score even.
The rest of the half was played at a similar pace as a handful of subs brought fresh legs to the field, but both sides kept it together and it very much looked as if, barring any last minute melt-downs on the part of the Timbers (something that they are unfortunately known for), the match would end with a 1:1 draw.
However, this is not how we do things in Portland. No sir. First, on another brilliant counter in the 89th minute, Nagbe passed across the box to Adi who adjusted a trifle before knocking it in, and then, in the 92nd minute, with one minute of stoppage left, the Timbers plum forgot to defend, let LA take another corner, and got ready to cry themselves to sleep as Galaxy sub, Gordon, marked by a guy half his size, easily headed it in for the draw.
Other Notes and Questions:
- LA looks credible and dangerous without Donovan, a loss that everyone wondered about. Are they the same team? Absolutely not, but they are still a tough nut to crack and with the anticipated arrival of Stephen Gerrard at centerfield this summer, I'm not exactly going out on a limb when I predict that they will yet again be a force to be reckoned with in the Western Conference.
- The Timbers actually looked pretty good. I absolutely hate it that they threw away two points in a way that makes it appear that they've learned nothing from their past mistakes, but again, they actually looked pretty good, and when you consider that they were lacking both Valeri and Johnson, there may very well be cause for optimism.
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