The Portland Timbers came from behind twice to earn a 2-2 draw on the road with their Eastern Conference table equivalents CF Montreal. Kevin Kelsy was assisted by Kristoffer Velde for his fifth goal of the season after Daniel Rios' opening goal from outside the box, and Cole Bassett scored his own rebound off the post after Wikelman Carmona burned Jimer Fory for pace at the end of the first half.
Lineups & Prematch
Only one change from Phil Neville after Portland's 6-0 trouncing of Sporting Kansas City, that was Alexander Aravena on the left wing in place of Antony.
Juan Mosquera was made available for selection for the first time since picking up another injury in his only 45 minutes of the year in Portland's 3-2 road loss against the Vancouver Whitecaps, in which he had a goal and assist. Kamal Miller retained his spot next to Finn Surman in the heart of the defense in a homecoming match against the team he, like James Pantemis, began his MLS career with.
Recap & Highlights
2' – The Timbers picked up where they left off against SKC, carving Montreal's defense open to create a chance for Kevin Kelsy via low cross from Brandon Bye on the right flank.
The Timbers then created another opportunity for Kelsy minutes later that the striker glanced awkwardly off of his head, and a third chance in six minutes for Alexander Aravena after that.
A bright, but goalless start for the visitors looking for their second road win of the season.
9' Forced Substitution, POR – Something you never want to see: A Timbers player going down off the ball with a non-contact muscle injury. Unfortunately Jose Caicedo's night came to an end before it really began, grabbing his groin/thigh area before medical staff helped him off the pitch to be replaced by Grand Marshall of the 2026 Floral Starlight Parade Diego Chara.
11' Goal Montreal, 1-0 – It's really incredible how the 2026 Portland Timbers refuse to learn from the mistakes that continuously hurt them. A cheap giveaway from Brandon Bye fell to Daniel Rios, who took a touch to settle at the top of the box before curling home a screamer under little pressure. Chara was slow to get across to the danger and the Timbers once again conceded a completely unnecessary early goal.
The Timbers responded well after the goal. Aravena had a huge chance that he sailed over the crossbar from a corner, and another effort blocked after Brandon Bye found him in acres of space on the left wing.
21' GOAL TIMBERS, 1-1 – Kristoffer Velde took a corner that Montreal half-cleared before the ball was recycled back out to him on the left. At the second time of asking Velde's service was perfect, finding the darting run of Kevin Kelsy toward the near post to smash home the equalizer.
27' – The Timbers very well could have doubled their lead just before the half-hour mark with two huge chances from a corner. Jimer Fory's head met Velde's in-swinger and pretty clearly struck Jalen Neal's outstretched arm in the box (more on that in a moment), and on the rebound Finn Surman had a close-range strike blocked on the floor.
30' VAR review – Alan Chapman, who is a bad referee, was summoned over to the monitor by VAR to check on Neal's aforementioned handball in the penalty area three, count 'em three, minutes after the incident occurred. After a brief check Chapman mouthed "no penalty," sufficiently wasting everybody's time. I have no idea what differentiates this from the handball Antony conceded in Vancouver earlier in the year, but hey, what do I know?
37' – With players to aim at in the box Kristoffer Velde opts to take a strike while leaning back that sails harmlessly wide of goal, prompting a cross-pitch shouting match between he and Neville.
45' Goal Montreal, 2-1 – From a Timbers attack Montreal hoof the ball aimlessly downfield through Jalen Neal that is allowed to bounce by a completely out-of-position Surman. Daniel Rios then passes the ball to an unmarked Matty Longstaff in the center, and the Englishmen hit a first-time through-ball toward an onrushing Wikelman Carmona. Jimer Fory, on his heels, just watches the forward blaze past him, pulls out of a challenge to stop the 1v1 chance, and Carmona sits Pantemis down before slotting the go-ahead goal. Genuinely awful from Fory, who was at fault for Zavier Gozo's goal in RSL thanks to some slack defending a couple weeks ago.
Halftime: CF Montreal 2 - 1 Portland Timbers
The Timbers dominated the first half possession, created more xG, and showed flashes of quality in the first half but were let down by terrible defensive moments and wasteful finishing. What 40-year-old Diego Chara has done to earn minutes in the midfield ahead of Joao Ortiz this season I do not know, the same can be said of Jimer Fory's defensive fall-off after a solid debut season.
Coming out of the break the Timbers looked a lot worse: In a 10-minute stretch from the 48th to 58th minute they conceded six shots, two corner kicks, and with the ball looked like it was their first time playing with one another.
59' Substitutions – Phil Neville had seen enough of Jimer Fory, and surprisingly Aravena, who was the only forward regularly willing to shoot the ball at Montreal's goal in the first half. Ian Smith and Antony, who is regularly unwilling to shoot the ball at the opposition goal, replaced them.
70' – With 20 minutes remaining in regulation, and Portland's offense loooking dire, Antony produced the team's second shot on-target of the match with an acrobatic effort that Thomas Gillier had to fully extend to pluck out of the far corner of the goal.
77' GOAL TIMBERS, 1-1 – Cole Bassett decided that his first goal in Timbers' colors last weekend was so much fun that he wanted to do it again! After rattling the inside of the post with a long-range effort, Bassett was the first to react to his own rebound and smash home the equalizer for the visitors. Despite the ankle injury that kept him out four matches, Bassett now sits on two goals and two assists in eight matches played – A goal involvement every other game from midfield.
82' Substitution – With three games this week rotation is critical, and Felipe Mora entered the match for Kevin Kelsy with the Timbers in search of a winning goal.
In the 13 minutes plus stoppage-time following Bassett's equalizer, with Neville's "I want a nine point week" ringing in the heads of the players and fans, the Timbers didn't register a single shot. Montreal registered five in that time, forcing James Pantemis into four saves, three of which on shots from outside the box.
One final chance presented itself to the Timbers in the form of a 90+4' minute corner. Velde's first attempt was cleared behind the goal, resulting in a second corner for the Timbers which hit the first man. The ball was recycled back out to Velde, who attempted an outside-of-the-boot cross that he spooned away from any of his teammates and into the hands of Gillier.
Full Time: CF Montreal 2 - 2 Portland Timbers
My immediate thought at the final whistle was "Poor result, 'meh' performance," and waking up this morning I felt the same way. The Timbers were inefficient with their chances and conceded two awful goals. Rinse, repeat.
Normally a midweek point on the road against an Eastern Conference side would be a good thing, and for the first time this season the Timbers didn't follow up a win with a 2-0 loss. But with now two games remaining before the World Cup break the Timbers sit 12th in the Western Conference on just 14 points from a possible 36 (1.17 ppg) with a trip to Inter Miami, and home fixture against high-flying San Jose Earthquakes looming.
I don't expect the Timbers to earn a point in either of those two fixtures, so where would that leave this team, who publicly state they're capable of more but unable to prove that theory despite massive investment and a three-year roster overhaul?
Losing Caicedo is brutal, and one can only hope his injury doesn't see him miss any time after the World Cup.
In terms of the decisions made by Neville in this game, the two I can't wrap my head around are the Chara and Antony subs. Joao Ortiz has played the best soccer of his Timbers career this season, and frankly, offers more on the pitch than Chara at this point in our legendary captain's career. I hate saying that, but Ortiz has earned the right for minutes ahead of him purely on the strength of their play in 2026.
Antony has done next-to-nothing since scoring Portland's first goal of the campaign, Neville makes it a point to say that he has let Ariel Lassiter down this year on multiple occasions over the last week, and the Brazilian still sees minutes despite Lassiter out-performing him on significantly less. It doesn't make sense.
The Timbers are essentially flat-track bullies that can win against the bad teams and those missing their best players, but can't against the competent ones at full-strength. Not the place you want to be in the final year of a head coach's tenure.
