KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Close, but no points – again.
Five saves from Jake Gleeson, several of them highlight-reel quality, kept the Portland Timbers in their Western Conference match against Sporting Kansas City – but they couldn't make anything happen at the other end, and have just one win in their last six matches after Sunday's 1-0 defeat.
“I think you're always concerned about points, because points matter in the grand scheme of things and where you sit,” said manager Caleb Porter. “Obviously, with the Western Conference, it's tight. We knew coming into this game that it was going to come down to the last 12 games."
Portland kept the shot margin close, with Sporting holding an 11-10 advantage in that column, but forced just one save from seldom-used keeper Alec Kann – and that in the 11th minute, when Kann had to get down to stop a shot from Darlington Nagbe.
The Timbers turned it up a bit late and pushed for an equalizer – but missed their best opportunity when substitute Jack McInerney drove a shot from distance off the crossbar in second-half stoppage time.
“I think we created a lot of chances,” Porter said. “We didn't finish. We had five clear chances, five or six. I don't think it had anything to do with chance creation at all. It had to do with finishing.”
Portland were without their top center back tandem of Liam Ridgewell and Nat Borchers against Sporting KC. But the attacking core of Fanendo Adi, Darlington Nagbe, Diego Valeri and Lucas Melano were all on hand for Sunday's match.
“Usually, our quality shows through,” Porter said. “We have a good attacking team, and we've got enough quality for those guys to finish those. I think today, overall, I thought we deserved at least a point.”
Gleeson had to come up big to keep the Timbers in the match, making several acrobatic saves in the second half – including a one-handed deflection to stop a close-range header from Lawrence Olum – after Jacob Peterson scored the match-winner for Kansas City in the 50th minute.
“Obviously, you don’t want to be making too many saves,” Gleeson said. “It’s one of those things where you can make all those saves but if you don’t get the result, they don’t really mean anything. I still have a lot to focus on, get better at and have a more complete performance rather than just saving the ball.”
Portland will get a crack at Sporting again next Sunday at Providence Park, but before then the Timbers have a midweek date, also at home, against Salvadoran side CD Dragon in the defending MLS Cup champions' CONCACAF Champions League opener.
“I think we are in good shape to start winning games,” Valeri said. “We have to find a way to win games. I think scoring the first goal would be very important for us in the next game against KC.”
