Thanks to a brilliant run from Yimmi Chara on a stellar assist by Sebastian Blanco, the Portland Timbers held a 1-0 lead deep into a road match against the LA Galaxy on Saturday. But as has been the case so many times this season, Portland couldn’t hold on, surrendering a goal in the 88th minute by LA’s Dejan Joveljic to seal a draw against the Galaxy, 1-1.
Despite a disappointing final result, the Timbers (3-6-7, 16 points) broke a three-game losing streak they were on heading into the international break, coming off a three-week respite looking mostly sharp and poised against the Galaxy (7-5-3, 24 points).
“We played very well,” Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese said. “We should’ve got the three points. We were the better team today on the field, and we created enough chances to be able to win this game. Little details, a little bit more maturity in some moments to be able to keep the ball a bit better there towards the end. To be able to finalize the moments that we had when we created the opportunities. We’re disappointed that we didn’t win, but the energy and the way we played today, this is our team.”
The Timbers started out with a whirlwind of chances as the Galaxy came out flat defensively. Portland couldn’t convert, however, including a bad miss from close range by Chara in the 5th minute and a shot with an extended leg by Jaroslaw Niezgoda that sailed wide in the 13th minute.
Despite an early yellow card assessed to center back Larrys Mabiala in the 10th minute, Portland was able to weather the storm of chances for the Galaxy in the first half. Victor Vazquez — who left the match in the 31st minute due to injury — had a curling chance in the 11th minute and a powerful shot from in close in the 16th minute. Both were saved impressively by Timbers goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic.
After a number of fizzled chances, Portland finally broke through in the 38th minute on a perfect through ball from left to right by Blanco to a streaking Chara, who finished strong after a soft touch. Chara’s goal made it 1-0 Timbers, a lead they carried into the break.
“I feel good,” Chara said in Spanish. “Us as forwards, that’s what we want and that’s what we bring to the team. The team needs us to have confidence, score goals and create chances. That way the team is able to play at a better level. We just feel confident and feel good with that.”
Samuel Grandsir had a strong curling chance early in the second half, forcing Ivacic to leap for a ball that went just wide of goal. In the 58th minute, Grandsir tried to earn a penalty kick by forcing contact with Mabiala, but was assessed a yellow card for flopping.
Portland brought on young striker Nathan Fogaça for Jaroslaw Niezgoda in the 60th minute. Fogaça would later pick up a yellow card in the 76th minute.
In the 67th minute, LA had its best chance of the night on a shot in close by Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, but it sailed wide, much to the chagrin of the Galaxy star. The Timbers soon brought on another pair of substitutes in Dairon Asprilla and Marvin Loría, who replaced Blanco and Santiago Moreno in the midfield.
Portland’s most notable substitute of the match came in the 85th minute, as top striker Felipe Mora replaced Chara for his first appearance of the season. Mora had missed four months due to arthroscopic knee surgery that he underwent in preseason.
The Galaxy evened things up soon after, scoring in the 88th minute as Joveljic’s powerful header was out of Ivacic’s reach. Joveljic proceeded to tear off his shirt to celebrate the late score, salvaging a crucial point for the home side.
“We know we have to give more,” Chara said in Spanish. “This part of the season, we just know we have to give more. We don’t have time to lose any more points, and the team knows that. We’ll continue to have more confidence to score more goals so the team feels better with who we are. Today was a match to do that and we created a lot of good chances that, unfortunately, we couldn’t convert.”
Portland’s next match is at home next Saturday against the Colorado Rapids, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Providence Park (TV on Fox 12 Plus).
— Ryan Clarke, rclarke@oregonian.com
