Wednesday night victory for the Portland Timbers over the Colorado Rapids

It was a stunningly beautiful night in Portland for the Timbers to host the Colorado Rapids last night at Providence Park. Colorado was one point behind Portland in the western standings at kickoff with 22 and 23 points respectively. With their win last night, Portland is now in 5th place with 26 points, tied with Seattle.

Antony and Santiago Moreno both took early shots on goal in the 4th and 7th minute that were easy saves for Colorado keeper Nico Hansen. Santi put in good work to maintain possession but did not have the space for a good finish. 

The Rapids had their first chance with a free kick in the 16th after a Moreno foul that was taken from about 35 yards out. It was handled with an excellent clearance by Kamal Miller. 

Portland’s David Ayala took a shot off a free kick in the 21st after Jimer Fory was fouled but it was blocked giving the Timbers a corner kick. Felipe Mora got a header on the corner but missed to the right. On the following run, Antony sprinted towards the box and took a shot that was an easy catch for Hansen. 

Finn Surman picked up the first yellow card of the match in the 24th minute that resulted in an uneventful free kick. Portland had their own free kick opportunity 5 minutes later when Jackson Travis cleared Santi out harder than Surman’s foul but did not get a yellow card. Santi’s serve connected with Antony, but his strike was high and sailed over the goal. 

Djordje Mihailovic made a challenging run for the Rapids in the 33rd minute driving past multiple Timbers players to send in a left footed shot past Maxime Crépeau for the first goal of the match. 

Portland struggled to recover after the goal and did not have another good look at goal until a penalty shot in the 42nd off of a handball. Head referee Chris Penso instantly blew his whistle and pointed to the penalty spot. 

Mora took the shot and sent the ball straight down the middle directly into the arms of Nico Hansen. There were a few more attempts by both teams to finish out the first half but nothing that posed any real danger. 

The second half started with a substitution by Colorado with midfielder Connor Ronan coming in for Josh Atencio. 

The Rapids had the initial momentum with Mihailovic sending a banger towards Crépeau in the 52nd that missed to the right. Djordje had been limping a little and grabbing for his hamstring prior to this play then went to ground in the 54th directly in front of Max as he was about to take a goal kick.

Mihailovic was replaced with Wayne Federick after some choice words from Max and Miller for the poor sportsmanship in the way he went down. 

Portland was quick to pick up the pace after the substitution and had two shots on goal on the following possession. David Da Costa took a shot from center goal in the 54th that was blocked and Antony’s shot in the 55th was saved by Hansen.

Portland’s coach, Phil Neville, made his first substitution in the 56th bringing on former Rapids player and newest Timber, Omir Fernández, for Joao Ortiz. Fernández was energized and ready to run that midfield as soon as he took the pitch. 

Colorado went on the attack in the 57th with a missed attempt by Sam Bessett. Two minutes later he almost had the 2nd goal for the Rapids when his shot hit the top crossbar, bounced down in front of the goal line, and ultimately cleared away by Juan Mosquera.

Portland used that clearance as a chance for a breakaway run by Da Costa. Mosquera sent a long ball to David at midfield, with only two defenders in front of him. Antony made a sprint down the left and collected Da Costa’s pass just before dashing behind the defenders to go 1:1 with Hansen. A ground ball to the far corner of the net gave Portland the equalizer in the 59th minute.

Antony was fouled in the 61st earning another free kick for Portland. Santi took the shot but it was saved by a punch from Hansen leading to a corner kick that was also saved by a block from Ronan.

Kevin Kelsy entered the match for Mora in the 64th minute and the Rapids made two substitutions at the same time. 

The direction of the match took a sudden shift in the 67th minute when Wayne Frederick cut down Ayala with a late nasty slide tackle. There was no protest from the Colorado bench being such a blatantly red card. 

The energy from Antony’s goal along with being up a man definitely enhanced the fun play that Phil is always encouraging his players to find. Portland put 4 shots on goal between the 71st and 74th minute with a 5th shot finding its mark in the 76th.

Juan made a strong run with possession into the top corner of the box and sent a low fast ball into Kelsy, who made the run directly into the center of goal. Hanson dived to stop Juan’s shot but missed and Kelsy had an easy finish for the Timbers’ go-ahead goal.  

Santiago Moreno earned his first yellow card of the season in the 83rd minute when he ran over a defender without the ball. That was Santi’s final moment of the match. Diego Chara came in for him in the 86th minute along with Ari Lassiter for Antony. 

Omir Fernández’s shot in the 88th was a block save for Reggie Cannon. Max had a diving save for Portland on the following play when Calvin Harris took a shot from the left side of the box.

There were 7 minutes of stoppage time added, and Portland put them to good use. Kelsy had a shot go in at 90+1 that was ruled offside, and Ayala had a shot blocked in the 90+2. 

Kévin Cabral stomped on the heel of Kamal Miller in the 90+7 to earn a spot in Penso’s book with a yellow card. Kevin Kelsy made one last big play at 90+9 with a shot that missed to the left. 

Final score: Portland 2, Colorado 1.