PORTLAND, Ore. – Back at Providence Park after a rough two-game road trip, the Portland Timbers were in need of some home cooking in Sunday's match against New York City FC to get the side back on course in the defense of their championship.
Instead, just 12 minutes into the game, the Timbers found themselves down a goal, one that the team felt never should have been allowed to stand.
After the match Timbers head coach Caleb Porter was unequivocal: He felt New York right back RJ Allen should have been called for a hand ball before he played the through ball that David Villa would slot home to put City up 1-0.
"The first goal is unfortunate," said Porter, "it is a definite handball. That shouldn't have been a goal."
Returning to the call moments later, Porter expanded on his opinion of the no-call.
"The arm is so far away from the body. It is not one that just hits the arm into the body," Porter said, pantomiming tucking his arm in against his side, "it is away from the body in an unnatural position."
Porter continued, "the angle that [referee Hilario Grajeda] was at made it tough, but that is where the [fourth official] and the linesman have to help him. After the game he admitted he didn't see it, but how does the fourth not see it? That is what they are there for."
Grajeda, meanwhile, took the opposite view, telling a pool reporter that, in his opinion, "the action by RJ Allen was not deemed to be an act of deliberately contacting the ball with the arm, therefore the referee did not consider this to be handling."
Although Porter did not get to see Grajeda's comments, his final take on the call could not have been more different.
"It was a blatant hand ball," Porter said. "You could see it from miles away and how four guys miss it, I don't know. Grajeda is an excellent referee; he will watch the tape and know that he made a mistake, but I blame the fourth and the linesman for not helping him out."
Whatever the debate, Villa's goal stood and it would be followed by another from Tommy McNamara in the second half. Those two goals, along with committed defending by the visitors, dealt the Timbers their first three-game losing streak since 2012 and second-to-last place in the Western Conference.
"Sometimes when you don't get rewarded for playing as well as well did," Porter explained, "you tend to stop playing that way and you lose energy. We are not going to let that happen. We are going to keep fighting and we are never going to quit."
For the Timbers, that never say die attitude is echoed throughout the locker room, despite the team's current struggles.
"It has been tough," said Timbers center back Nat Borchers after the match. "There is no doubt about it; it has been tough. Every season has some adversity and we are going through our own right now. This group, I know, can react well to situations like this. We have got great character in the locker room, a great coach, a great organization. We are going to stick together and see this through."
