As has been the case all season for the Portland Timbers, it was another step back after taking two forward.
With their MLS Cup Playoff destiny in their hands following a 3-0 victory last weekend over the Vancouver Whitecaps, Portland responded by squandering a 2-0 second-half lead Saturday on the road against Toronto FC to lose 3-2 and reopen the door for the last postseason slot in the Western Conference.
Adding injury to insult, captain Will Johnson is lost for the season after suffering a broken right leg on an opening-minute collision with Mark Bloom. They’ll also be without the centerpiece of their attack, Diego Valeri, in their next game against the San Jose Earthquakes after he picked up a late yellow card to earn a one-game suspension.
“It seems like we’ve had to do it the hard way,” head coach Caleb Porter told the media after the game. “We’re kind of a little bit staying in line with that.”
And, once again, the fault lies with a leaky defense, which had seemingly turned a corner with two clean sheets in their last four outings.
All three goals came through set pieces, starting in the 62nd minute when TFC defender Nick Hagglund headed home the first of his two goals in the span of eight minutes. The winner came via a long Michael Bradley free kick in the 89th minute that flew untouched through the defense and past goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, keeping TFC’s chances for a first-ever playoff berth alive.
“You can understand when one happens, but three, it’s hard to understand,” Porter said. “It’s hard to swallow. So for me, I think it was a great example of how we need to manage the game better. We need to score the third goal.”
And Portland had a wonderful chance to do just that in the 54th minute when a stellar build-up by Valeri and Jorge Villafana set up a seemingly easy chance in front of goal for Rodney Wallace, but he pushed his shot just wide. That would have given Portland a 3-0 lead.
“We score that, the game is over,” Porter said.
Prior to that miss and following Johnson’s injury, things couldn’t have gone much better for the Timbers. A goal by Fanendo Adi and a TFC own goal off a Valeri cross had Portland in the driver’s seat at halftime, giving them a chance to extend their lead over the Whitecaps to five points, pending their game later in the day against Real Salt Lake.
Porter also pointed to two “silly” fouls, first by Alvas Powell and then Valeri, to set up the free kicks for TFC’s second and third goals. It was Valeri’s foul that earned the yellow card.
“It just wasn’t a good second half for whatever reason,” Porter said. “But you have to credit Toronto as well. They’re very hungry right now, they’ve never made the playoffs, their backs are against the wall. We knew second half they were going to come out flying and go down swinging.”
Losing Johnson is undoubtedly the biggest blow. The team confirmed after the game that Johnson broke his leg and was immediately transported to a nearby hospital after an air cast was applied and he was stretchered off the field.
Duties in midfield will likely fall to Ben Zemanski, who came on for Portland’s fiery captain, for their final four games.
“We don’t dwell too much,” Porter said. “We don’t get down. We don’t point fingers and feel sorry for ourselves. We just keep fighting and keep grinding and that’s a big reason why we’re still in a playoff position. … A lot of teams would have crumbled with all we’ve been through.”
Dan Itel covers the Timbers for MLSsoccer.com.
