Match 24: Portland Timbers 2-1 Montreal Impact

By: Bob Kellett | August 16th, 2008

Bottom Line:Second half goals from Bryan Jordan and Chris Brown lifted the Portland Timbers to a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Impact in front of 7,893 on a hot, muggy summer night at PGE Park. After a scoreless first half, Jordan headed home a cross from Scot Thompson in the 50th minute to give the Timbers the lead. It was Jordan’s third goal of the season. In the 69th minute, Brown, coming back from a three-game suspension, fired a shot from 30 yards out that was misplayed by Montreal keeper Andrew Weber to give Portland (6-8-10) a two-goal advantage. The goal was Brown’s team-leading sixth of the season. Midfielder Tony Donatelli got one back for the visitors when he punched in a goal from close rage in the 86th minute. The win, the first home victory for the Timbers since April, moves Portland three points ahead of Montreal (7-10-4) in the race for a USL First Division playoff spot. Portland is currently in seventh place. Montreal has three games in hand.

Timbers Lineup
Knighton
S. Thompson Knowles Dunn Higgins
Olum (Guante 86) Brown Poltl Griffin
Jordan Alvarez (Suzuki 59)

Did you notice?
* The temperature at kickoff was 96 degrees. I mention this because as I type this my testicles have melted and because the heat looked like it impacted the game. Both teams looked flat and out of sorts in the first half. It was like the players were trying to conserve energy. The crowd was equally flat. Overall the Timbers had the better run of play in the first 45, but the season-long breakdown between the defense and the forwards, and the midfield and the forwards, and the forwards and the forwards, reared its ugly head.

* The best scoring opportunity came when Bryan Jordan was sprung free and went one on one with Weber. Instead of shooting from a good angle or laying it off to Byron Alvarez who was wide open in the box, Jordan tried to dribble around Weber. The Impact keeper brought him down. He also got a bit of the ball, at least that is what it looked like on the jumbotron replays.

* My first biggest note from the first half: nobody on the Timbers makes runs away from the ball. Hard to generate an attack when players aren’t at least putting themselves in a position to break free

* My second biggest note from the first half: Scot Thompson would be playing at a much higher level than this league if he could only learn to pass. His repeated long balls to no one or to the opposing keeper made me feel worse than a week’s worth of jetlag.

* My first half notes soon became moot as Thompson hit a long ball that actually hit the mark, which was Jordan’s head which happened to be in motion because he was making a run away from the ball. It was a pretty goal, something that we haven’t seen much of this season.

* Brown’s goal wasn’t pretty. It was horrendous keeping by Weber. World class bad. Brownie hit it pure but ten out of ten keepers in this league stop that one. I feel good for Brown. This season hasn’t panned out the way he expected. Through it all he has played and acted like a professional. In the beginning of the season Gavin Wilkinson said he expected 7 or 8 goals from Brown. He has six now.

* I was shocked by Montreal’s effort. They have been playing better of late, but tonight they didn’t bring much to the park. The first half they looked content to sit back and let the Timbers possess until the inevitable breakdown in the attack. They opened up a bit in the second half when they fell behind, but that was not a good looking Impact team.

* The Montreal goal came with the Timbers backline sleeping. Higgins was beat to the end line by Sita-Taty Motondo who played the ball back into the center of the box were neither of the Camerons were tracking Donatelli. A pure defensive breakdown. There weren’t many tonight, but that one was inexcusable.

* That was my first game watching Leonard Griffin play midfield. Apparently he interprets that to mean he never had to track back and play defense.

* Bryan Little didn’t dress because of a back he hurt in training. Cameron Dunn got the start in place of Justin Thompson because of his “athleticism”. I need to see a bit more of Dunn before I pass judgment.

* It was Takayuki Suzuki Bobblehead Night, but it might as well have been Taka Weeble Wobble Night. He spent more time on the turf than he did on his feet. Someone needs to tell Taka that after the fourth or fifth time he goes down without the referee giving him a call he might as well stay on his feet.

* Knowles and Poltl both picked up their fourth yellow cards of the season. If either gets one more they’ll have to sit out a game. Knowles’ Iron Man streak, 52 games and counting, would be broken if that were the case.

* Brad Knighton picked up his first win for the Timbers. He was tested a bit early but had a pretty quiet evening.

* I need to look this up but I wonder how Gavin Wilkinson’s record compares when he is coaching against a coach who has never coached against him before versus guys who have coached against him at least once previously. I mention this because most teams in this league have coaches who were around last season and who have figured out Wilkinson’s strategies by now. Montreal has a manager, John Limniatis, who is new. It will be interesting to see what kind of adjustments he makes the next time the two teams meet. I couldn’t believe he didn’t start Joey Gjersten. That guy’s speed killed the Timbers when he was with Vancouver and he gave Higgins trouble late off the bench.

* I have confirmation that Timbers owner Merritt Paulson did meet with MLS Commissioner Don Garber at the Olympics in China. Paulson was back in Portland tonight. I’m told he is saying that it (MLS in Portland) all comes down to getting the stadium situation sorted out. You knew that already, didn’t you? I was also told that one of the Commissioners on the Portland City Council who seemed to be pretty solidly on board with the idea a few weeks ago might have some reservations about the price tag. Stay tuned….

Final thoughts: Odd feeling, this one. We haven’t experienced a home win in so long it is hard to figure out what to do. It wasn’t the best game of the season, nor was it anywhere near the worst, but it was a must-win game for the Timbers and win they did. We live to see another day and another couple hundred more errant long balls. The addition of Bryan Jordan is proving to be a huge one. He brings a pace and athleticism that can make up for a lack of skill elsewhere. Chris Brown brought a steadying presence in the midfield. Six games remain – four on the road and two at home. The next one is at Vancouver where the Timbers have only one once in 14 regular season games. At least there is still hope.

Match Reports (Updated when I see them)

Official Match Statistics (USL Soccer)

Jordan, Brown spark Timbers 2-1 win over Montreal (Portland Timbers)

Timbers beat Montreal 2-1, compute what they’ll need to make playoffs (Portland Tribune)

Impact 1 Portland 2 (Montreal Impact)

Timbers end nine game home winless streak with 2-1 win over Montreal (Soccer City USA)

A Very Busy Sunday - Fan Observations from Last Night vs. Montreal (GK’s Athletic Sipportters)