Match Report: Portland Timbers 4-0 Miami FC Blues

By: Bob Kellett | September 4th, 2008

Bottom Line: In a game that they had to win to keep their playoff hopes alive, the Portland Timbers delivered a decisive 4-0 victory over the Miami FC Blues in front of 8,219 at PGE Park on a pleasant September evening. Byron Alvarez started the scoring early, heading in a cross in the third minute. Four minutes before the intermission, defender Cameron Dunn scored his first goal in a Timbers uniform, beating Miami keeper Josh Saunders with a header off of a Chris Brown corner. It was Brown who would deliver the knockout blows in the second half, converting a pair from the penalty spot. The goals were Brown’s team-leading seventh and eighth on the season. With the victory the Timbers move three points clear of Miami and into a tie for eighth place with Minnesota, just one point behind Atlanta in the race for the seventh and final playoff spot. Portland and Miami finish 1-1-1 against one another this season.

Timbers Lineup
Harrison
S. Thompson J. Thompson Dunn Higgins
Olum (Guante 71) Poltl (Dombrowski 75) Brown Griffin (Little 83)
Bagley (Walker 74) Alvarez (Suzuki 67)

Did you notice….?

* For the first time all year the Timbers truly dominated an opponent on the field and on the scoreboard. They outshot Miami 19-8, they had more shots on goal 7-2, and they controlled the run of play from the opening minute until the final whistle.

* That’s the first time all year the Timbers scored more than two goals in a game. It is the first time they’ve scored more than two goals since they put in four against the California Victory on July 15, 2007. It is also the first time all year a Timbers player has scored multiple goals in a game.

* Scot Thompson is the team leader in assists. He tallied his third assist this evening, setting up Alvarez with a perfect cross in the third minute. Alvarez simply redirected into the corner of the goal, leaving Saunders frozen. Pretty goal.

* Dunn’s goal also came from the air. He beat his defender to the spot and nailed Chris Brown’s low driving corner into the net. In addition to the goal, Dunn was a beast in the backline. He spent a lot of the evening marking Alex Afonso, the league’s leading goal scorer. Afonso barely made his presence known at all. Credit to Dunn and Justin Thompson for teaming up to silence him.

* Brown’s first goal actually came off a save from Saunders. The former Timbers keeper guessed correctly on the penalty kick but could control the rebound and Brown had an easy time hitting paydirt. Brown’s second goal was a pure strike on a penalty that left Saunders with no chance. Both penalties were deserved. The first came off a handball from a Timbers corner and the second was called after Leonard Griffin was tripped in the box after being sprung free with a crafty pass from Takayuki Suzuki.

* You couldn’t have scripted this game better for a Timbers team that has a game in Rochester on Saturday and that will play three games over the next week. Gavin Wilkinson was able to use the maximum number of subs early to give guys like Alvarez and Poltl some rest.

* That said, why wasn’t Scot Thompson subbed out? The game was over in the 70th minute and Thompson should have been taken out. He is sitting on four yellow cards. Why even risk having him pick up a fifth card, and the automatic one game suspension, when it isn’t necessary?

* That was simply a stinker of a game from Miami. Their season was on the line and that was the best they could do? This team might still be mathematically alive, but they aren’t making the playoffs. And they shouldn’t. Their defenders didn’t communicate with Saunders or each other all evening.

* Bruce Arena can go fuck himself for recalling Bryan Jordan. The Timbers didn’t need him this evening, but they sure could use him over the next three games.

* Home plate was covered. Baseball season is over. Hooray.

* With Cameron Knowles suspended, Justin Thompson wore the armband tonight. Odd choice having a guy who has been relegated to the bench the past month as the captain, but he did play well this evening.

* Miguel Guante was named Community Player of the Year. Troy Ready received honorable mention. For the first time all season, Ready was on the bench. He wasn’t on the lineup card. Nor was Kiki Lara who was also on the bench.

* The MAC Club is getting a paint job. Instead of being boring concrete it will be boring gray. I also noticed that some of the people in their stands were watching John McCain speak while the game was being played. They should be forced to watch Bruce Arena fuck himself.

* There was a beautiful sunset this evening. PGE Park is a splendid setting, $40 million upgrade or not.

Final thoughts: Shit, where was this game two months ago? This was exactly what the Timbers needed when they were struggling to score goals and to win games at home. Don’t look now but they have a two-game winning streak at home. It will be quite the season if they start the season with three straight home wins and finish the season with three wins in a row at home. No need to tell you about the nine games in between. In any case, they live to see another day and are right back in the thick of things. Previous trips to Rochester have not yielded great results. Trips to Montreal have yielded nothing but results. We’ll see if that holds true to form. If nothing else the team will be feeling pretty good about itself as it makes the sojourn across the country on Friday.

Match Reports

Official Game Stats (USL Live)

Brown scores two in Timbers 4-0 win over Miami (Portland Timbers)

In hunt for playoffs, Timbers blast Blues (The Oregonian)

‘Perfect’ night, result for Timbers (Portland Tribune)

Timbers find their form in 4-0 victory over Miami (Soccer City USA)