The Portland Timbers travelled to St. Paul, and were iced out by Minnesota United, who have yet to concede a goal at home this season. Tomás Chancalay scored the Loon's opener in the 16th minute, and turned provider for Kelvin Yeboah in the 60th to see the home side earn all three points.
Lineups & Prematch
As was the case the week after Portland's 3-2 win against the Columbus Crew on opening day, Phil Neville went with an unchanged starting XI following the Timbers' 2-1 win against LAFC last weekend. I thought he might give Kevin Kelsy the nod at striker after the Venezuelan's last-second winner, but Felipe Mora is better in buildup play than the target man, and the Timbers figured to have more of the ball than their hosts.
Excellent as well to see the exciting duo of Jose Caicedo and Cole Bassett get their second straight start in front of Portland's first-choice backline.
A full-strength bench saw Gage Guerra miss out on the 20-man squad, with the likes of Alexander Aravena, Ariel Lassiter, Diego Chara, Joao Ortiz, and Kelsy available to make an impact later in the match.
Entering the day the Timbers had never won against the Loons in Minnesota, and the Loons were returning home after an unbeaten-in-four match stretch in all competitions – Their last loss was a 6-0 drubbing in Vancouver on March, 15.
Recap & Highlights
12' – Antony collected a loose ball just outside of Minnesota's box before being fouled by Jefferson Diaz. David da Costa stepped over the free kick, but the close proximity to goal made it impossible for his shot to get back down under the bar after it cleared the wall.
16' Goal MIN, 1-0 – Tomás Chancalay fired home one of the easier goals Minnesota United will score this season, completely unmarked at the top of Portland's penalty area. The Loons attacked Antony relentlessly down the right wing, Caicedo decided to let Minnesota have the ball back inside the box, and the cross was pulled back to a wide open Chancalay for the lead.
For the first time in a Timbers shirt, Caicedo was having a torrid time out on the pitch. He misplaced several passes, mis-judged a tackle on Kelvin Yeboah that led to a Minnesota chance, and was bodied off the ball for the Loons goal. His opening half hour was summarized by the shot he took from ~25-yards-out that wouldn't have found the goal even if it was twice as tall.
30' - One of the better moves the Timbers had in the first half came through Jimer Fory down the left wing. The fullback chipped a cross toward Mora making a darting run inside the box, but the striker couldn't get clean contact with the header.
44' – Just before the break, the Timbers had their best chance to equalize. A cross fell to Velde on the right side of the box, who stabbed an effort at goal that fell directly to the feet of Bassett. The midfielder didn't know much about it, but took a touch to settle and struck the post with a right-footed effort. With how open he was, that had to find the back of the net.
HALFTIME: Minnesota United 1 - 0 Portland Timbers
It was simply another half where the Timbers controlled proceedings, but fell apart at the final stage on both offense and defense in critical moments. On two separate occasions Antony was played through on goal behind the last defender, and both times he slowed the play down and refused to take on a shot with his left foot. Felipe Mora was largely non-existent, as were Da Costa and Velde.
Bassett and Caicedo struggled to make positive impacts as well against a Minnesota rest defense as stout as any in MLS. In another world the Timbers enter the break up two or three to one, in this world they squandered their chance to do so.
The Timbers started the second half with more of the same tepid play, controlling the ball with little-to-no idea what to do with it once they crossed the halfway line. As the clock struck the hour, the Loons doubled their advantage.
55' Substitution – Kevin Kelsy ON // Felipe Mora OFF
60' Goal MIN, 2-0 – Joaquin Pereyra easily carried the ball up the right under no pressure with Caicedo and Jimer Fory way out of position. He shifted the ball onto his left foot and switched it to Chancalay on the opposite flank, also under no pressure with Brandon Bye caught too far upfield, leaving Finn Surman to try and get across to the winger. He didn't, and the ball was cut back to a wide open Yeboah to tap home. Another unbelievably soft goal to concede.
66' Substitution – Alexander Aravena ON // Antony OFF
79' – After a whole lot of nothing-doing, the Timbers finally found an equalizer through Kevin Kelsy. Or at least they would have had he not been several yards offside. Velde was slipped into the box and hit a hard cross low for the striker to bundle home, but Kelsy was at least a yard offside.
80' Substitution – Ariel Lassiter ON // Alex Bonetig OFF
85' – This is when the Timbers registered their first official shot on-target. The 85th minute. First. Shot. On-target. In the 85th minute. That should tell you everything you need to know about Portland's attacking efforts.
As the final 15 minutes counted down, James Pantemis was peppered with shot after shot, most of which stemming from the Timbers turning the ball over cheaply higher up the pitch as they pushed for a way back into the match.
Fans in Minnesota were treated to a pointless cameo from James Rodriguez as he uses MLS as a way to regain fitness before the World Cup, and for the 10th time in their history the Timbers walked away from Allianz Field without a win for the ninth consecutive time.
FULL TIME: Minnesota United 2 - 0 Portland Timbers
The loss suggests the sobering reality that the 2-1 win against LAFC was more of a flash in the pan than a step in the right direction. If Kristoffer Velde isn't making things happen this attack looks downright putrid. Aravena came in and was at least willing to take risks with the ball, but nobody looked good for the Timbers going forward.
I thought it was also the second-straight road game that Bassett struggled with the ball at his feet, and as it turns out, Caicedo is capable of putting a foot wrong at the base of midfield. It felt like a "Welcome to MLS" moment for the Colombian – "Congratulations, you have to travel 1.5k miles to play a sub 40-degree match in April."
Jimer Fory and Brandon Bye got cooked by Pereyra, Yeboah, and Chancalay in the wide areas all night. Now, they didn't have much help from their wingers tracking back, but it was a difficult job for the pair regardless.
My three biggest takeaways from from the match were how wasteful the Timbers were in the final third, how many passes they misplaced across the pitch, and how many second balls Minnesota won and immediately countered with. The road woes continued tonight, and wont get any easier against San Diego FC, or Real Salt Lake in the weeks to come.
