Trees, Everywhere Trees: The Gang finally wins a big game

Well folks, the Portland Timbers did it. They finally won a Big Game (TM).

For the past four years Timbers fans have watched their team get right to the point where PTFC is in a must-win, do-or-die, game where the entire season is on the line. And for the past four years we have seen the team fumble it, sometimes to an embarrassing degree. Phil Neville still carries with him the reputation that his sides can't win when it matters most, and I think more than a few pundits expected that to happen again on Wednesday night.

But no, those mad lads in green finally did it. Finding themselves in the same spot as they did a year ago, Portland flipped the script and put in maybe their best performance of the season as they felled Real Salt Lake 3-1 at Providence Park in the Western Conference Wild Card play-in game. It wasn't pretty or straightforward, and at times it was excruciating, but my goodness it was exhilarating.

Here's how the gang finally won a Big Game (TM).

Ever been in a storm, Phil?

Just four days removed from his side getting blasted at home, Phil Neville made the critical decision to get back to his roots. He was luckily blessed with many of the team's key veterans returning to match fitness, and so he had all of his tools at his disposal as he entered perhaps one of the biggest games of his career. And so, he turned to his veterans.

He inserted Diego Chara and Felipe Mora back into the starting lineup, backing experience over youth and experimentation. He made similar decisions with the backline, bringing back the familiar in Finn Surman, Jimer Fory, and Juan Mosquera. Underpinning all of this, Neville crucially went back to the tried-and-true 4-2-3-1 formation. That allowed the likes of Antony, David Da Costa, and Kristoffer Velde to all play in familiar positions.

About to enter a storm of pressure, high expectations, and a big stage, Neville had the players he felt most comfortable with in their most comfortable positions.

Crazy what happens when you do that:

All of Neville's decisions were rewarded on Wednesday night. Both Mora and Chara wound back the clock and put on classic performances. Mora's brought back some badly needed lethality to the center forward position, allowing Portland to actually put pressure on their opponent's goal. Chara's was crucial as he locked down the middle of the pitch for Portland, essentially on his own. With more stability and assuredness shielding the backline, Portland limited their mistakes and prevented RSL from beating them up the gut – both things that plagued them on Decision Day.

It wasn't just those two who lifted the team, either. To a man, it felt like every player in a green shirt was up for it. Challenges were stronger, the pressure was neater, and overall the team brought a new level of intensity that I honestly believed was lost for the year.

With the added benefit of being in familiar spots, Portland was able to generate width and a genuine wide threat. Seen mostly in the first half, Portland was more committed to bombing the fullbacks forward in support of Antony and Velde. While neither of those attackers scored, Velde was the provider for both of Mora's goals (he wasn't credited with assists due to the whole "Pipe following up his own rebound" thing, but he got as close to an assist as another player can get in those situations) and Antony was able to put some consistent pressure on RSL's backline with help from Juan Mosquera.

Consistency, comfort, and some good ol' fashioned grit permeated through the entire field, and it all resulted in Portland banishing those Wild Card demons of 2024 and entering the big MLS dance proper for the first time since 2021.

That deserves to be celebrated for numerous reasons. Portland in the Phil Neville era finally won a game when it mattered the post. And the Timbers are finally back in the playoffs proper. No more need to equivocate around "postseason vs. playoffs". Portland is in Round One. Bring on the weird three-game series, baby.

Now, we of course must have our regular and healthy dose of realism, in palatable bulleted list format:

• Portland lost control of the match from 45' – 80'(ish). Against a better team than RSL – like, say Portland's Round One opponent San Diego – the Timbers will very likely be punished severely for that.

• I'm just not a fan of how passive Portland looked in the second half, and definitely not a fan of how choppy their counter attacks still look. Strong and quick transition play is an invaluable asset in the playoffs, and it still doesn't look like Portland has it.
• Another invaluable asset is strong set piece play. Portland has the ability to good on the offensive end, but oh my god guys you've gotta be better on the defensive end if you want any hope in Round One.
• David Da Costa looked... fine. He was more comfortable clearly and had a few promising moments, but he didn't impact the game like a DP has to for any kind of run in the playoffs.

So in the end, we are right where a lot of us thought we would be at the end of the season: cheering for a Timbers team that definitely has not fully come together and will be fighting an uphill battle over the next 180 (or 270) minutes. The odds are vastly stacked against them, and I still don't think that Portland's playoff stay lasts longer than mid-November – a disappointment all the same.

But, the Timbers now carry something that I think a lot of us did not think they would have: a win in a Big Game (TM). It's the type of win Neville has been promising and yearning for for years, the type of win that can pull is all back in again, and the type of win that makes us care for just a little bit longer.

So anyway, I started posting

Postseason soccer means elimination-game social media, where the takes are oh so spicy and the reactions are oh so over the top. Some of my favorites from Wednesday night:

Go off Felipe Mora. That yell was as much of a cry of relief as one of celebration. And shoutout to Timbers Social Media Coordinator Eric Riley for being in the perfect spot for capturing this moment.

You... cannot do that in a soccer game. I laughed out loud when I saw the replay. It might be one the dumbest/most incredible things I've seen happen in the MLS playoffs. And we're not even into the first round yet.

I can't get over how wide open Kamal Miller was on this goal. It must have felt good for him, after all of the stick he's endured from Timbers fans online this year.

We call this one "The Debut", as it was very similar to what Neville wore in his first Timbers game in charge in 2024. It worked then, and it worked now. I don't care if it's going to be warm down in San Diego – you gotta wear the hoodie again, Phil. At the very least, please not a suit.

Can I offer you a nice moment in this trying time?

This Timbers season has offered us scant few moments of true unbridled happiness. Between the blowouts at home and the offensive stagnation we've suffered through this year, there hasn't been a ton for us to enjoy and cheer for with unqualified enthusiasm.

Which makes Felipe Mora's moment of glory postgame in front of the Timbers Army so much more cathartic. One of the longest-tenured Timbers left on the roster endured one of his most frustrating seasons in Portland, tallying just five goals on the year. So to see him score a brace in the biggest game of the season felt so good and deserved.

Pipe has tailored some of the biggest moments in Providence Park (maybe the biggest moment in MLS Cup 2021), and who knows how many more years we'll get to watch him do his thing. For him to have at least one last signature vintage moment and carry his team when they needed him most was a thing of beauty, and a reminder of the joy and beauty this game and this team can bring.