Tag: portland timbers

The Portland Timbers get a two goal defeat over the San Jose Earthquakes at Providence Park in Portland on Wed May 15, 2024 (San Jose Earthquakes image)

By William Espy

The San Jose Earthquakes concluded their short two-game road trip on Wednesday night against the Portland Timbers at Providence Park. The Quakes pulled off a comeback in their last outing against the Colorado Rapids and hoped for a much better start in this affair. The Quakes couldn’t repeat the same performance taking loss to the Timbers 4-2.

San Jose Starting XI: Yarbrough, Costa, Wilson, Rodrigues, Akapo, Tsakiris, Gruezo, Pellegrino, Lopez, Espinoza, Ebobisse

Portland Starting XI: Crepeau, Zuparic, Mabiala, Miller, Mosquera, Chara, Evander, Asprilla, Antony, Mora, Moreno

Portland got off to a quick start, getting the first scoring attempt of the night in the second minute on a Dairon Asprilla shot that was saved by William Yarbrough. They continued bringing pressure as well, however, the Earthquake’s backline was holding strong as a shot from Antony from inside of the box a minute later was blocked by Carlos Akapo.

The following corner didn’t yield any results for the Timbers, but another scoring opportunity from Juan Mosquera sailed over the crossbar in the fourth minute. From there, things turned the corner a bit. The Earthquakes attack woke up and started creating some offensive opportunities of their own. Hernan Lopez and Cristian Espinoza both had shots blocked by Kamal Miller before Carlos Gruezo’s shot sailed wide left.

Things evened out a bit from there, with opportunities being far in between for roughly the next 20 minutes. Maxime Crepeau had to make his first real save of the night in the 31st minute when he got in front of a Jeremy Ebobisse header, however, it immediately led to Amahl Pellegrino getting it past him to make it 1-0 for the Quakes.

Just three minutes later, Hernan Lopez continued his dominant performance since joining the MLS by adding one of his own to make it 2-0 in favor of the visiting team. It quickly went from a tied game to the Timbers finding themselves in a very tough situation.

They desperately tried to get themselves on the board before halftime but were ultimately unsuccessful and heading into the break, the Earthquakes maintained their lead.

The TImbers made a couple of substitutions in the second half, bringing on Eric Miller and Jonathan Rodriguez to start the second half. The Earthquakes continuing their strong attack to start the second half, with Ebobisse having another shot blocked just a couple of minutes in.

In the 51st minute, Lopez nearly scored a second of the night but hit the crossbar. From there, Portland’s attack came alive with scoring chances from Antony and Rodriguez in short succession. Over the next 20 minutes, there was a lot of back and forth between the two teams, however, everything changed in the 71st minute when Bruno Wilson was shown a red card and the Earthquakes went down to ten men.

Just three minutes later, the Timbers would get themselves on the board when Evander scored on a penalty resulting from Wilson’s foul. The Quakes made a few moves at this point, bringing on Preston Judd and Tanner Beason. It wouldn’t take Portland long to tie things up, scoring a second goal in the 80th minute when Rodriguez was able to find the back of the net.

In the 90th minute, the Timbers would end up getting a second penalty and scored on that attempt as well to give them a 3-2 lead heading into stoppage time. They controlled the attack for the entirety of stoppage time, and eventually, Rodriguez scored his second of the night in the 100th minute making it 4-2 and that’s how the game would end.

The Earthquakes started off strong, but a red card was ultimately the difference between them potentially walking out with another victory and another heartbreaking loss

Portland Timbers’ Dairon Asprilla (#27) celebrates his game winning goal with a somersault during a match against the San Jose Earthquakes in Providence Park on Saturday JUL 23, 2022. (Portland Timbers)

by Marko Ukalovic

PORTLAND, Ore. —The Portland Timbers scored two goals in the second half to overcome a one-goal halftime deficit to defeat the San Jose Earthquakes 2-1 on Saturday evening at Providence Park.

San Jose has lost two in a row and sit in 13th place in the Western Conference with just 22 points. Portland moved up to seventh place with the three points and are unbeaten in their last seven matches.

Portland (7-6-9-30 points) scored the game winning goal in the 71st minute when Santiago Moreno sent a cross inside the box to an unmarked Dairon Asprilla who headed the ball past the outreach of ‘Quakes goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski for his fifth goal of the season.

San Jose (5-9-7-22 points) drew first blood just before halftime. In the 42nd minute, off of a free kick, Cristian Espinoza received a pass inside the box from Jackson Yueill. Espinoza’s shot was initially saved by Timber’s goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic. However, Larrys Mabiala clearing attempt went over to Benji Kikanović who tapped home the ball into an empty net for his third goal of the season.

Kikanović has scored or assisted in four of the team’s five matches thus far during the month of July.

“We can score but sometimes defensively I don’t know if we don’t concentrate enough, I couldn’t tell you what it is but it’s on every single one of us. We need to tighten up everywhere really, not just the back. It sucks for JT [Marcinkowski] because he’s making saves doing what he can, we’re all trying to do what we can, but we’re giving up goals. We just need to come together and figure it out,” Kikanovic said.

The Timbers took control of the second half not long after it began, controlling the tempo of play.

Portland scored the equalizer in the 53rd minute. Diego Chara connected on a nice give and go with Eryk Willamson. Chara’s shot from just outside the box deflected off of Jaroslaw Niezgoda and into the back of the net for the Polish striker’s team leading eighth goal of the season.

“We had a very good first half,” said ‘Quakes interim head coach Alex Covelo. “We had our chances to score here which is not easy. At halftime we were talking about that point, a critical point where the opponent is trying to push and pass that moment, and we needed to be ready to hold that part and control the game. They were going to press more and find more balls in behind. When we were going through that moment, they scored off a rebound and then we started to suffer a little bit.”

San Jose came within inches of scoring their own equalizer in the 89th minute. Paul Marie set up Espinoza on the right side just outside the box. Espinoza’s shot bounced off the left post after Ivacic got a piece of the shot as he extended his hand out spoiling the Earthquakes chance.

Ivacic finished the match stopping six of the seven shots on target to earn the victory. Marcinkowski made three saves on five shots on target in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished the match with nine corner kicks. Portland had three.

San Jose is now 9-17-4 all-time vs. the Portland Timbers, including a 0-12-4 record on the road.

The Earthquakes are now 5-5-4 in MLS play under interim head coach Alex Covelo.

The Quakes led at halftime of a road match against the Timbers for just the third time in 16 visits to Portland.

UP NEXT: San Jose hosts Real Salt Lake on Saturday 7/30 at 7:00pm at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose Earthquakes captain Jackson Yueill celebrates his second goal of the season after beating Portland Timbers goalie Aljaz Ivacic with a header in the first half at Pay Pal Park on Wed May 18, 2022 (Tony Avelar, Oregon Live)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Jamiro Monteiro has been a shooting star in the South Bay.

The San Jose Earthquakes midfielder scored his first brace in helping his team defeat the Portland Timbers 3-2 on Wednesday evening at Pay Pal Park.

Monteiro’s second goal of the match proved to be the game winning goal in the 80th minute. A centering cross by Cristian Espinoza pinballed off Jeremy Ebobisse and a Timbers defender inside the box before finding a wide-open Monteiro whose sliding kick into an empty net that sent the Quakes faithful into a frenzy.

“From my first game, my first training, I was really connecting [with his teammates]. I was talking with the guys. But now I feel like it’s getting better and better. Today, I think we could have done more, we could have scored more goals. It didn’t happen but we have another game Sunday and I hope we do that on Sunday,” Monteiro said.

San Jose is unbeaten in its past three matches. Portland is 1-1-1 in its past three matches after coming off a dominant 7-2 win over Sporting Kansas City.

San Jose is now 5-1-1 in all competitions under interim head coach Alex Covelo, including a 3-1-1 record in MLS play.

Portland (3-5-6) drew first blood in the 18th minute off a set piece. Marvin Loría’s corner kick was finished off by an unmarked Christhian Paredes, who got past Paul Marie on the play, headed the ball top shelf over Quakes goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski for his second goal of the season.

San Jose (4-5-4) answered back in the 31st minute. Ebobisse possessed the ball outside the box along the left wing. Ebobisse did a pirouette before crossing the ball into the middle of the box where Jackson Yeuill sent a diving header past Timber’s goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic for his second goal of the season in the 31st minute.

The Earthquakes gained their first lead of the match just before halftime. Cade Cowell utilized his speed on a three-on-one counterattack. Cowell fed a pass over to the left to Jamiro Monteiro who beat Ivacic with a right footed shot the bottom right corner of the net for his first goal of the match in the 44th minute.

“Well, Jamiro (Monteiro) is a player with a lot of quality and that’s why we need him in those areas, to turn and try to combine and be dangerous. It’s fun to see him play. At the beginning of the game, he was a little bit defensive, and we were not able to find him in spaces that we wanted. But at the end of the first half and in the second half, he was amazing. That’s why he scored those goals,” Quakes interim head coach Alex Covelo said.

Portland responded back in the 56th minute on another set piece. Bill Tulioma was able to get inside position in the middle of box when he headed in Eryk Williamson’s corner kick for his team leading fourth goal of the season.

Marcinkowski finished the match with three saves on five shots on target to earn his fourth victory of the season. Ivacic had one save on four shots on target in the losing effort.

Shea Salinas made his season debut for San Jose as a substitution for Espinoza in the 88th minute.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with six corner kicks. Portland had four.

San Jose is now 6-15-9 all-time vs. Portland in MLS play, including a 6-4-5 record at home.

The Quakes have now scored 22 goals this season, fifth most in MLS, including at least three goals in three of their last five matches and five of their 12 regular season matches to date. San Jose is the only team in MLS with 3+ goals in five separate matches this season.

Nine of San Jose’s 13 points so far this season have come from matches in which they conceded the first goal (two wins, three draws).

San Jose has won three consecutive regular season home matches and four consecutive home matches in all competitions.

The Timbers had its seven straight unbeaten streak snapped against the Quakes (W5 D2) dating back to 2019. This ties the longest unbeaten run by either team against the other in MLS play with Portland also going unbeaten in the first seven meetings (W2 D5) from 2011 to April 2013.

San Jose has lost only one of its last six matches (W3 D2), including a 3-3 draw this past Saturday. It was the seventh time since the start of last season that the Earthquakes both scored and conceded at least three goals in the same match. No other MLS team has done so more than four times in that span.

UP NEXT: San Jose hosts Sporting KC on Sunday 5/22 at 4:30pm at Pay Pal Park.

The Portland Timbers Diego Chara (21) gets away from a San Jose Earthquakes defender at Providence Park in Portland on Wed Aug 4, 2021 (photo from oregonlive.com)

by Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Earthquakes battled to a 1-1 draw with the Portland Timbers on Wednesday evening at Providence Park.

San Jose has a six-game point streak (1-0-5) and have 18 points in the Western Conference. Portland snapped its two-game losing streak and sit in eighth place in the Western Conference, two points ahead of the Quakes.

San Jose (4-7-6) drew first blood in midway through the first half. Cristian Espinoza received a long ball along the right side. He serviced the ball into the middle of the box where Timbers goalie Steve Clark made a diving attempt but wasn’t able to corral the ball and the rebound leaked out to the left where Chofis buried the ball into an open net for his fourth goal of the season, tying him with Cade Cowell for the team lead, in the 24th minute.

Portland 6-8-2) scored the equalizer in the final minute of stoppage in the first half. A corner kick floated into the box where Bill Tuiloma headed towards the right corner and Felipe Mora was able to deflect it into the net past Quakes goalie JT Marcinkowski for his team leading fifth goal of the season.

Quakes head coach Matias Almeyda made his first substitute change right after halftime and brought in midfielder Jackson Yueill, who played in his first Quakes action since July 3rd when he left to join the US Men’s National Team for the Gold Cup.

“It’s been a while,” said Yueill. “It’s nice to be back with the team and with the group and it’s nice to be playing again with everyone. When I came in, [Matias] told me to do what I normally do, get comfortable again, get familiar with the team again and try to bring some energy and calmness to the game. Just go out there and play and get reacquainted with everyone. It’s fun to be back with everyone and I think the tie on the road is a good point.”

Almeyda put in three fresh legs in the final 10 minutes of the match with the intention of trying to score the go ahead goal when he inserted Chris Wondolowski. Andy Rios and Carlos Fierro.

San Jose had their best chances in stoppage time thanks to the second yellow card issued to Diego Chara in the third minute of stoppage time which resulted in a red card and automatic ejection. Chara stepped on the foot of Yueill when tried challenging for the ball near the D-line.

In the final minute, Fierro sent in a cross over to Yueill, whose shot was stoned away by Clark. The Quakes last chance came on a corner kick in the final seconds of the game but they weren’t able to convert having to settle for one point on the night instead of three.

“It makes me very happy for the players and for the whole team. Our intention is for everyone to run and play. That goal reflects our intentions. We want every player at San Jose to identify with the style. Those goals are always a prize. I think we’ve had similar instances in which we controlled the match but were just missing the finish that could have potentially won us the match tonight,” Almeyda said.

Marcinkowski finished the evening with three saves on four shot. Clark made seven saves on eight shots.

GAME NOTES: San Jose had four corner kicks. Portland had six.

Chara, with the red card, will be suspended for the next Timbers game.

San Jose is unbeaten in five consecutive road matches (1-0-4). It marks the team’s longest unbeaten run as visitors since the final four road matches of the 2012 season (3-0-1).

The Quakes earned their first point at Providence Park since Sept. 7, 2014, snapping an eight-game losing streak at the venue.

The Quakes are now 5-14-9 all-time vs. Portland, including a 0-10-4 record on the road.

UP NEXT: The Earthquakes return to San Jose to host LAFC on Saturday 8/8 at 4:00pm at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose Earthquakes forward Andres Rios heads the futbol away as the Portland Timbers defender Bill Tuiloma (25) is right behind to defend at Pay Pal Park in San Jose on Sat May 15, 2021 (AP News photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif–Missed opportunities were theme of the match as the Portland Timbers defeated the San Jose Earthquakes in a 2-0 shutout on Saturday evening at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose have lost two games in a row after starting the season winning three of its first four games. Portland snapped its three game losing streak.

Portland (2-3-1) drew first blood early in the first half. Eyrk Williamson dribbled in from 20 yards out and found Yimmi Charra who chipped the ball over Quakes goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski for his first goal of the season in the 5th minute.

Quakes head coach Matias Almedya made numerous changes to his starting lineup. Paul Marie was back in the starting lineup at left back for San Jose after suffering an injury. Oswaldo Alanis returned back to center back. Andy Rios started in place for Chofis at forward.

San Jose (3-3-0) played a sloppy first half where the team weren’t in sync when trying to attack throughout the half. Numerous careless, nonchalant passes led to turnovers and counter attacks by Portland that turned into scoring chances for the visiting team.

Despite having a two-thirds to one-third advantage in possession play, San Jose weren’t able to generate many quality scoring chances during the opening 45 minutes.

The Quakes best chance to score came in the 32nd minute. Cristian Espinoza’s free kick from the left wing was knocked away by Timbers goalkeeper Logan Ketterer. Best scoring chance of half so far.

Pablo Bonilla appeared to have tripped Remedi inside the box which would have resulted in a penalty shot but referee Tim Ford said no harm no foul and the play resulted in a goal kick for Portland in the 43rd minute.

Portland earned two yellow cards in the first half thanks to some reckless abandon play from Bill Tuiloma and Dario Zuparic. Both made separate dangerous fouls in the 24th minute and 42nd minute.

The Timbers came out with an aggressive style of play to start the second half. They had generated five scoring chances in the first 10 minutes of the second half, including a point blank save by Marcinkowski on a shot by Felipe Mora right in center of the box.

San Jose was awarded a penalty kick in the 61st minute when a centering attempt by Carlos Fierro was knocked away by Timbers defender Claudio Bravo with a hand ball.

Chris Wondolowski, who came in as a subsitute in the 58th minute, shot the penalty kick to the far right corner of the net but Ketterer made a diving save for a corner kick.

Ketterer, who was playing for the USL’s El Paso Locomotive, received a call up due to an extreme hardship rule as both Portland goalkeepers were out due to injury.

Almeyda’s substitutions of Chofis, Shea Salinas, Jack Skahan and Benji Kikanovic injected life in the Quakes attack as they generated momentum for San Jose as they created scoring chances inside the Timbers defensive zone in a ten-minute span from the 60th minute to the 70th.

Portland doubled its lead on a counter attack in the 74th minute. Williamson sent a cross from the right slot and Marvin Loria headed the ball past Marcinkowski into the back of the net for his first goal of the season.

Williamson has three points in five games for the Timbers.

The Quakes had a chance to cut the lead in half in the 80th minute after corner kick pinballed around inside the box and Wondo’s header from six yards out was knocked away by Kedderer at the last second to end the threat.

Kedderer stopped all five shots, including the penalty kick on the MLS all-time leading goal scorer, on target to earn his first MLS career victory. Marcinkowski made three saves on five shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose had 12 corner kicks. Portland had four.

Portland leads the overall series against San Jose 16-5-8. The Quakes are 5-4-5 at home versus the Timbers.

The last win for the Quakes over the Timbers was April 6, 2019, when the Quakes shutout Portland
3-0 at PayPal Park.

UP NEXT: San Jose finish off its three-game homestand when they host Sporting KC on Saturday 5/22 at 7:00pm at Pay Pal Park.