After a long season with plenty of on-field struggles and no shortage of outside criticism, Portland Timbers striker Jaroslaw Niezgoda broke through in a big way on a hot Saturday night at Providence Park. Niezgoda’s two second half goals carried the Timbers to a 3-0 win over the Colorado Rapids in a crucial game for Portland as it seeks a return to form.
With the win, the Timbers (4-6-7, 19 points) move up from 13th out of 14 teams in the conference into a tie for 10th with the Rapids (5-7-4, 19 points). Seven teams per conference make the MLS Cup playoffs.
Portland struggled to finish its chances throughout the first half, dealing with many of the same issues in the final third it had faced so many times this season. The Timbers would get themselves into a strong position to score, but small mistakes or narrow misses would do them in.
Yimmi Chara and Niezgoda each had chances in the first 10 minutes that fell into that category. Colorado’s first chance of the night came in the 13th minute off the foot of Jonathan Lewis, but it scooted just wide of goal.
In the 21st minute, Portland lost midfielder Cristhian Paredes to what appeared to be a leg injury, and he was replaced by Eryk Williamson. The two teams played a physical remainder of the first half, including a yellow card assessed to Diego Chara in the 28th minute, before a defining moment in the match.
In first half stoppage time, Santiago Moreno collided with Colorado goalkeeper William Yarbrough, who remained on the turf for an extended period. After review, as Yarbrough left the field visibly shaken up, the Timbers were awarded a penalty kick and Yarbrough a yellow card.
Then 19-year-old goalkeeper Abraham Rodriguez took the pitch to defend a penalty kick from Sebastian Blanco. As he came on, Rodriguez was talking smack to Blanco, who stepped up to the spot and nailed the penalty kick completely unfazed.
Despite a largely lackluster performance, the Timbers led 1-0 at the half thanks to Blanco’s PK. They carried that momentum into the second half of play, and Niezgoda put the team on his back in the final 45.
In the 54th minute, Niezgoda got in behind the Colorado defense in stride with a long pass from Bill Tuiloma, and he was able to rifle one home to make it 2-0 Portland.
But Niezgoda was far from done.
In the 62nd minute, with the Colorado defense mismatched and undermanned, Williamson played a quick ball in that found a streaking Niezgoda for the score. Niezgoda’s second goal of the night made it 3-0 Timbers and filled the air once more with thick, green smoke.
The Timbers were hunting for a third goal for Niezgoda, which would have been the first hat trick in Portland’s MLS history. It wasn’t in the cards, however, as Colorado prevented another from going on the board the rest of the way.
Portland’s next match is Wednesday night against the Houston Dynamo, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Providence Park (TV on Fox 12 Plus).
— Ryan Clarke, rclarke@oregonian.com
