Match Recap & Highlights: Portland Timbers vs San Jose Earthquakes

The Timbers were the architects of their own demise in a 3-1 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes at Providence Park. Two giveaways that led directly to Preston Judd goals and a slack set-piece concession sandwiched Antony's first goal since matchday 1 as the Timbers enter a two month World Cup break having taken 14 points from a possible 42.

Prematch & Lineup

Well, this was it. Portland's final match before a two month break from MLS play while the World Cup makes its' way to North America. St. Louis City SC's win earlier in the day meant that the Timbers entered the match 13th in the Western Conference, having taken 14 points from a possible 39.

Following a three game week that took the Timbers from Oregon to Miami by way of Montreal, 2nd in the West San Jose came to town having stumbled themselves in recent weeks. The Earthquakes hadn't won a game since April 28, and were without former German national team forward Timo Werner and homegrown maestro Niko Tsakiris.

The Timbers on the other hand, would be without captain Diego Chara and marquee signing Jose Caicedo, who both sustained non-contact muscle injuries on the aforementioned road trip.

Joao Ortiz was called into the starting lineup in place of Chara, but aside the XI remained unchanged from the side that lost 2-0 to Messi & friends in Miami. Sawyer Jura was called onto the bench to fill the extra space.

Highlights & Recap

2' Goal San Jose, 1-0 – In the blink of an eye the Timbers found themselves 1-0 down. Kristoffer Velde and David da Costa combined to cheaply turn the ball over in San Jose's half, before a lighting-quick counter resulted in Preston Judd firing the visitors into the lead. The quintessential Timbers concession: needless giveaway to goal.

12' Goal San Jose, 2-0 – The quintessential Timbers concession, part two: Electric boogaloo. This time Cole Bassett is responsible for a cheap turnover in his own half. The Earthquakes pounced again, and again Preston Judd fired the ball past James Pantemis to double their lead.

18' GOAL TIMBERS, 2-1 – Just when it seemed like things were going to get real ugly, real fast, the Timbers found a way back into the contest through Antony. David da Costa slipped him through on net, and the Brazilian took a touch to control before calmly slotting past Daniel in San Jose's net. Game on?

24' Goal San Jose, 3-1 – Game back off. With their third shot-on-target the Earthquakes scored their third goal of the contest through fullback Daniel Munie. It was an incredibly-timed run a striker would be proud of to tap home right in front of goal, but an awful goal to concede for Pantemis and the Timbers after getting back into the match.

For the remainder of the first half the Timbers tried to salvage the situation, but a trio of Kevin Kelsy chances which missed the net entirely were really all the Timbers could muster on offense. The damage had been done.

Halftime: Portland Timbers 1 - 3 San Jose Earthquakes

Normally I would just continue the recap as normal for the second half, I'm not going to do that for this one.

I could talk about the Timbers' first shot on-target of the second half coming in the 62nd minute despite being down two goals.

I could talk about Antony, who is as interested in sending childish responses to journalists on social media as he is scoring goals, missing the net from a yard out in the 78th minute.

I could talk about defender Ian Smith once again being the first player called off the bench in a match the Timbers are losing convincingly.

I could talk about Kristoffer Velde and David da Costa dropping deep to pick up the ball just to sloppily give it away to the Earthquakes.

I could talk about the San Jose Earthquakes, down their two best players and having played at altitude mid-week, generating the only three chances of second-half stoppage-time.

But, to use Phil Neville's words postgame, "It actually means jack shit, really."

Full Time: Portland Timbers 1 - 3 San Jose Earthquakes

It's San Jose's first EVER win at Providence Park, and like Real Salt Lake, Houston Dynamo, and Colorado Rapids, they have comfortably surpassed the Timbers after finishing below them in 2025. Preston Judd and Ousseni Bouda, who both make $350,000, out-performed Antony ($666k), Da Costa ($3.42m), and Velde ($3.4m) tenfold not only tonight but over the entire season.

To put it plainly: The Timbers are regressing. Their losses are far more representative of the team they are, not the team they have the potential to be, than their wins. They're being passed by, and only three points off the bottom of the Western Conference. Through second-half stoppage-time and in the minutes that followed the final whistle, supporters throughout the stadium voiced that they've had enough:

Another banner in the Timbers Army read "Bye Phil" with a peace sign, as the entire North end chanted "Neville out" for the better part of 10 minutes. The manager, who solemnly clapped Antony's log lift as he walked under those calling for his head, acknowledged it all in his press conference.

"It's what we sign up for, there's no pity party for me. Them supporters deserve better than what we've given them in these first 14 games. I think if I was in that Timbers Army I'd be doing the same," said Neville. "I'd want more my team, the team that I support, the team that I love, the team that I'm passionate about. The reason why we probably work hard all week is to pay for that ticket at the end of the week to come watch the Portland Timbers play. I've got to take responsibility for it."

As he left the room Neville told those in attendance "See you guys soon," but it is now hard to imagine a scenario in which he is still on the touchline when the Timbers return to play at Lumen Field on July 16. It feels untenable at this point. I'm not sure he really ever had their full support, but I don't think he can get the supporters back onside.

The longer this goes on the worse it's going to get for everyone involved, and in all honesty the scenes at the end of the match made me really sad. Not necessarily for Neville, although I do feel for him as a human, but for where the club is at as a whole. Five years removed from their third MLS Cup appearance, the Timbers are closer to the wooden spoon than they are the Supporters' Shield. That should never be the case.

So over these next few days, weeks, months, the decision-makers have to take a long, hard look at where they stand, and decide where they actually want to go. They can't just continue with the same and expect a stark difference in results. It's time to make some difficult decisions. It's time to put an end to the mediocrity on display.

To quote the song "Tears over beers" by the band Modern Baseball, "All I can hope for is for things to get better, 'cause all I can take is no more."