Portland Timber 0 – SKC 1

While the majority of people are paying attention to the FIFA World Cup and how their respective nation is getting on, the MLS is still going strong. Indeed, New York Red Bull’s forward Thierry Henry had to actually pull out of the BBC’s Match of the Day punditry to return and start scoring goals back in the USA!

The Timbers and Sporting Kansas are probably getting a little sick of the sight of each other, with the two teams having met only for days previous to this encounter. The Timbers won that tie 3-1, but Kansas would get the bragging rights at the end of an enjoyable match. As City get out of a bad losing run, back-to-back wins will do the team the world of good as they move back up into contention for top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Portland looked totally different to the team that won 3-1, with a variety of changes leaving the team looking short of cohesion. Currently sixth in the Western Conference, the Timbers are beginning to lose track on some of their rivals ahead of them.

While the Timbers were on the receiving end of some fouls in the first half, with SKC dishing out eleven fouls in the first half alone, they were also on the end of a goal which could rock their season further. After making a hash of a Seth Sinovic throw-in, SKC capitilized on the poor defending by banging the goal into the back of the net and beond Donovan Ricketts.

After the early goal, Portland dominated the match but were unable to get anything too productive going. With Fanendo Andi being ruled for offside in the 14^th and a tough miss from Nagbe, the Timbers looked like they might just be having “one of those days”. It looked to be even more likely when in the 63^rd SKC nearly made it 2-0, with a save from Ricketts keeping things fair enough for now.

The second half seen many more Portland attacks, with the likes of Urruti and Fernandez introduced into the play to limited effect. The Timbers are back in action against the Galaxy on the 4^th of July, so it’ll be interesting to see if they can redeem themselves against one of the household names of the MLS.

Image © Portland Timbers

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