PORTLAND TIMBERS WIN FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON

Last Saturday night the Portland Timbers finally returned for their home opener, after having to be on the road for five straight games due to the Providence Park stadium expansion construction that’s been under way since last summer.

The club was suffering a not-so-pleasant start to its 2018 MLS season, after not being able to get a single win in those five games. The last three were the most painful for Portland fans as the Timbers took the early lead in each, only to fail to close out all three, the games ending with a 1-1 draw with FC Dallas, a 2-2 draw at Chicago, and a huge heart-breaker 3-2 loss against Orlando City after being up 2-0 most of the second half.

But what a homecoming it was!

Hours before the game, you could walk down Morrison Street and notice fans already waiting for the stadium doors to open; some even camped out the night before. There is a reason why Portland is known as Soccer City, USA: The people here live soccer. Regardless of the bad start to the season, many fans were clearly excited to welcome their beloved Timbers back home.

And the Timbers gave their fans the show they rightfully deserved, defeating Minnesota United 3-2 in front of a sellout crowd of 21,144.

“The energy tonight from the fans gave us what we needed to fight all the way to the end and get the result that we needed,” said Timbers head coach Giovanni Savarese during the post-game press conference.

It was a huge win for the Timbers, taking a lot pressure off the players as well as the coaching staff. This marked the first MLS win for Savarese, hired away from the New York Cosmos of the (second-tier) North American Soccer League to replace Caleb Porter, and the first victory without midfielder Darlington Nagbe, a longtime fan favorite traded to Atlanta United in December.

This also marks the 15th straight year that the Timbers haven’t lost a home opener, going back to their USL (pre-MLS) era.

Saturday’s game was mostly controlled by the Timbers side with an incredible support from the Timbers Army fans who cheered for their team all night long.

“Es una sensación única. La verdad que uno tiene la expectativa pero es mucho más de eso,” said Savarese, a Venezuela native, asked in Spanish his thoughts of the Providence Park atmosphere.

“El sentimiento que uno siente en el momento de estar aquí a sido fantástico y por eso son los mejores fanáticos que hay y lo demostraron esta noche y los muchachos estaban con mucho deseo de estar acá porque desde noviembre que no se jugaba en el estadio. Así que estaban muy contentos de estar aquí en esta noche con los fanáticos, con nuestros fanáticos y conseguir esta buena victoria.”

Timbers defender Alvas Powell opened the scoring against the Loons with a beautiful individual run from the back, taking on three defenders and putting the ball into the net with a rocket of a kick in the 20th minute. (The goal earned the right fullback MLS Player of the Week and Goal of the Week honors.)

Powell also got an assist three minutes later, serving up a ball that was deflected a bit by a Minnesota defender but found the feet of “El Maestro,” midfielder Diego Valeri, who tapped it in to give Portland a 2-0 lead.

The second half was more pleasant to Minnesota fans as their newly-acquired playmaker Darwin Quintero netted a goal in the 64th minute. That silenced the Timbers fans a bit, but forward Fanendo Adi gave his side the 3-1 lead in the 74th minute after a great team build-up: Midfielder Sebastián Blanco serving a cross toward the far post, Valeri heading the ball back to the top of the box, then Cristhian Paredes with a volley and Adi deflecting it past the goalkeeper with a surprise header.

All seemed well for the Timbers, and the Army was chanting Adi’s name after he ended a long scoring drought. Then came the 81st minute when Portland defender Bill Tuiloma gave up an own goal, pulling Minnesota back within one. This got the whole stadium nervous as the fans feared their Timbers once again giving up a win in the last minutes. But Timbers held on for the 3-2 victory.

“Si veníamos tranquilos. Obviamente los goles esos nos habían malacostumbraron los partidos anteriores, entonces perdimos el control del juego un momento, comenzamos a perder bellotas, también había cansancio lógica,” Blanco told the Advocate afterward.

“Los muchachos hicieron un desgasto importante pero bueno Minnesota también tomó muchos riesgos, es un equipo que intenta jugar que viene haciendo buenas cosas y obviamente hay que dale meditó al rival. Es importante que pudimos sacarlos adelante y sumar los tres puntos para comenzar a trabajar con tranquilidad,” he explained when asked how it felt finally getting a win and relieving that pressure of not being able to finish off an opponent.

The Timbers’ next game is Sunday, April 22, as they host first-place New York City FC at Providence Park, starting at 3 p.m.