The Portland Timbers knew a road match at surging Atlanta United would be tough, given Portland had seven contributors out due to injury and one missing with an excused absence.
The script that played out in a 5-1 loss on Saturday was worse than the Timbers (1-3-0, 3 points) could have imagined. Very little worked on the attack, the referee’s calls didn’t go their way, and they crumbled defensively against an extremely talented side in Atlanta United (3-0-1, 10 points).
The axis of the match shifted back and forth in the early moments. Portland appeared to take the lead in the second minute on a curling beauty of a shot by midfielder Eryk Williamson, but it was called off after review by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
Timbers forward Jaroslaw Niezgoda was ruled offside and in the Atlanta goalkeeper’s line of sight, disallowing the goal. Although, Atlanta keeper Brad Guzan did not appear to be in position to make the save anyway, and might not have been affected by the presence of Niezgoda.
The Timbers’ Twitter account voiced its displeasure with the call, as did swaths of Timbers fans.
In the 20th minute, Portland defender Zac McGraw made a strong play at the back to prevent a dangerous, low ball in. But the Timbers could not hold Atlanta back for long.
In the 25th minute, midfielder Thiago Almada made a brilliant display of skill to keep the ball on the counterattack and play it ahead to young defender Caleb Wiley, who put the ball in the net for his third goal in two games. Atlanta led 1-0.
The onslaught continued from Atlanta for the next several minutes, with near misses by Atlanta’s dynamic attacking players and strong saves from Timbers goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic — making his first start of the season between the wickets.
In first-half stoppage time, defender Larrys Mabiala earned a yellow card for the Timbers in a dangerous spot a few yards outside the box. That set up a free kick for Almada, a set piece specialist, who fired home an MLS Goal of the Year contender that Ivacic had no chance to stop.
Portland entered the half down 2-0, seeking answers on the attack and to stop the bleeding on defense.
Coming out of the halftime break, Giorgos Giakoumakis nearly made it 3-0 Atlanta in the 48th minute, but he was narrowly offsides.
Portland’s attacking momentum picked up a bit as the second half ticked along, but it couldn’t quite find the final pass or make Guzan work. On the other end, it only got worse.
In the 59th minute, Giakoumakis found himself onside and scored on a header to make it 3-0 Atlanta. Wiley notched the assist on a perfectly timed cross into the box.
Luiz Araujo scored to make it 4-0 Atlanta in the 75th minute, slamming the door shut on Portland as both sides brought on a handful of substitutes.
Portland did snag one goal back in the 83rd minute to make it 4-1. A cross from winger Diego Gutierrez found the head of reserve striker Tega Ikoba, who scored the first goal of his Timbers career.
But Atlanta responded with a goal three minutes later to bring the game to its final score of 5-1. Almada boxed out the much larger Mabiala, turning and finishing with finesse to secure the brace.
One bright spot on a difficult night: Club legend Diego Chará surpassed 30,000 career minutes in MLS, just the 10th MLS field player to reach that milestone. He is the first field player to reach 30,000 minutes with only one MLS club.
Portland’s next match is at home against the LA Galaxy. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. PT next Saturday at Providence Park, with a live broadcast on Fox and streaming for free on the Apple TV app.
— Ryan Clarke, rclarke@oregonian.com, Twitter: @RyanTClarke