The Portland Timbers face a Supporters’ Defend contender for a second consecutive weekend on Saturday night time once they go to a San Diego FC aspect coming off considered one of its most dramatic wins of the season.
The Timbers practically rallied from three objectives down in final weekend’s 3-2 residence defeat to FC Cincinnati, wherein former Timbers star Evander scored one aim and assisted one other for Cincy.
Kevin Kelsy scored twice after halftime to make the sport shut late after Cincinnati’s first-half outburst that got here considerably towards the run of play.
Portland supervisor Phil Neville believed the efficiency was higher than the consequence. Nevertheless it additionally introduced into focus the skinny margins the Timbers could also be going through down the stretch.
Along with two fixtures towards San Diego (16-7-4, 52 factors) — which leads FC Cincinnati within the Defend standings on aim differential — Portland (10-9-7, 37 factors), presently sixth within the Western Convention, will even face West contenders Minnesota, Vancouver and Seattle of their final eight matches.
“I feel the 2 video games towards San Diego will likely be large video games for us, each residence and away, and we’re actually trying ahead to it,” Neville mentioned. “They have one thing going there, and I feel we have to go down there and we have to play at our absolute most.”
San Diego rallied to a late 2-1 victory over San Jose after they had been second-best for many of final Sunday’s contest.
However the late entrance of striker Marcus Ingvartsen into solely his seventh MLS look — and first in additional than two months — reworked the sport and maybe gave purpose to imagine an already spectacular growth season might get even higher.
The Danish striker scored the equalizer within the 81st minute, then fed Anders Dreyer for the 84th-minute winner for his finest second throughout an injury-plagued first MLS season.
“It has been powerful,” Ingvartsen informed the Official SDFC Podcast this week. “But in addition like, for me, I attempt to change it to one thing optimistic and to attempt to enter some small particulars that you simply’re perhaps not likely having the time for whenever you’re in a full training-game schedule, and so forth. After which simply with the ability to come again as sturdy, nearly as good as doable.”
–Discipline Degree Media
