Unable to finish off a bevy of quality chances and leaky along the back line, the Portland Timbers dropped a road match at FC Cincinnati 2-1 on Saturday.
The Timbers (2-5-2, 8 points) had a highly productive first half on the attack, creating plenty of dangerous chances but never quite able to score. FC Cincinnati (6-1-2, 20 points) was a consistent threat on the counterattack, netting one goal.
Portland’s first chance came in the 8th minute on a powerful shot that sailed high by Evander, whose contributions were many throughout the first 45.
In the 11th, Evander’s perfect free kick found the head of Franck Boli, but he couldn’t turn it on-target. Seconds later, Dairon Asprilla pounced on a turnover and fired a shot that narrowly missed high.
Evander put another curling beauty in the box on a free kick in the 14th minute, and neither Boli nor Asprilla could get on the end of it.
Most of Portland’s issues were at the back, primarily at central defense where Larrys Mabiala was filling in for the ill Dario Zuparic — both Zuparic and Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese did not make the trip due to health and safety protocols.
Mabiala picked up a yellow card in the 19th minute for holding his mark. Later on, Aljaz Ivacic was forced to make a pair of saves in the 23rd and 25th minute as Cincinnati continued to threaten.
Portland responded to Cincinnati’s attacking spurts with some of their own, fueled by the speed and skill of Juan David Mosquera. A perfect ball from Mosquera found Evander in the 27th minute, but he couldn’t put the header on-target.
While the Timbers missed out on all their first half chances, Cincinnati made good on one of theirs. A header at the near post by Sergio Santos — with Mabiala missing his mark — made it 1-0 Cincinnati in the 34th minute.
Portland saw another chance in first half stoppage time, a ball at the end of a speedy counterattack from Mosquera that ended up on Ayala’s head, and he couldn’t finish, either.
The Timbers went into the half down 1-0 despite producing some of the best attacking buildup of their season so far.
Portland’s attack cooled in the early minutes of the second half, and the defensive bleeding continued for the Timbers.
FC Cincinnati made it 2-0 in the 58th minute on a goal by Brandon Vazquez, who put it home with relative ease after Ivacic was forced into a diving save.
But Portland was able to mount a quick response and pull one back. A dangerous cross in from Santiago Moreno was saved poorly by Cincinnati keeper Roman Celentano, and Asprilla stepped up and rifled it in to bring the score to 2-1 in the 60th minute.
Evander threatened again with his playmaking in the 69th minute, a headed pass that made it through to Moreno. But Moreno’s shot was narrowly saved, keeping Portland down on the scoreboard.
Nathan Fogaça replaced Franck Boli at striker in the 73rd minute for the Timbers, seeking to provide Portland the attacking boost it needed to bring the match level. Portland brought Jaroslaw Niezgoda on for Asprilla in the 85th minute as well, but it wasn’t able to find that tying goal despite some strong runs.
Portland’s next match is on the road at St. Louis City SC, with kickoff scheduled for 5:30 p.m. PT on April 29. A live stream is available for free on the Apple TV app.
— Ryan Clarke, rclarke@oregonian.com, Twitter: @RyanTClarke
