?PORTLAND — A late outburst made the Portland Timbers home debut a memorable event for more than 5,000 fans at the University of Portland’s Merlo Field on Tuesday.
Goals by Jack Jewsbury and Eric Brunner in the final six minutes lifted the Timbers to a 2-0 win over Chivas USA in a U.S. Open Cup play-in match.
Until the late heroics, the contest was an exercise in frustration for the home team, which dominated the first half and played the second half with a man advantage.
The breakthrough goal came seconds after Portland goalkeeper Jake Gleeson’s sliding effort denied a breakaway chance for Chivas’ Justin Braun. Flowing the other way, Jewsbury struck a low ball that skipped along the wet grass and beat goalkeeper Dan Kennedy inside the attacking left post.
“I think I have a decent shot from distance so I pulled the trigger,” Jewsbury said. “It was just a great feeling. We had chances we weren’t fortunate enough to get the right bounces.”
“Great goal from Jack Jewsbury,” Portland coach John Spencer said. “I think that’s what the team needed. That goal just kind of lifts the whole group and gives us confidence.”
Moments later, Jewsbury, who entered the match as a substitute in the 71st minute, took a corner kick that defender Eric Brunner banged home for the second goal. It was the only corner of the match, and Brunner converted after Kennedy blocked his initial header.
The win means nothing in the MLS standings. But it does earn the Timbers another play-in date at San Jose in April. The Timbers need six more wins to claim the Open Cup, but coming after two tough league losses to begin the season, this was more than just another victory.
And it was a just victory.
The Timbers played with great energy in the first half, displaying an attack that was as consistent as the rain falling on the sellout gathering of 5,061 fans at Merlo Field.
“We did lots of good things tonight and at the end of the day I think the best team came out with the win,” Spencer said. “Tonight we didn’t make the individual errors; we kept ourselves in with a chance to win the game, worked hard off the ball.”
From the opening seconds, when a Kenny Cooper header sailed over the bar, into the last minute of the first half, Portland was on the attack. The best chances went to Jorge Perlaza, who might have had three goals himself by halftime with a more precise finishing touch.
Perlaza had two golden chances in the first 15 minutes. He lost control on the first one when it appeared he could have easily scored from the top of the 18. Moments later, he was alone in the box but hesitated and rolled his attempt well wide of the right post.
There would be more chances for Perlaza, though none produced the desired result. There were fewer chances in the second half, when Chivas sat back and defended with nine players. After all the near misses from inside and around the box, it was Jewsbury’s shot from well outside the 18 that broke through for Portland.
Chivas had to play with 10 men from the 43rd minute when defender Andrew Boyens was issued a second yellow card for an elbow to Cooper.
Portland was effective attacking down the left wing with runs by midfielder Kalif Alhassan and left back Rodney Wallace, and with a more direct approach of long balls over the back line that created some trouble for Chivas and several offsides infractions against the Timbers.
As was the case in Portland’s first two MLS matches, quick counter attacks were the primary source of problems for the Portland backline. Though credited with only one save, Timbers keeper Gleeson made two one-on-one stops in the first half, denying Marcos Mondaini and Francisco Mendoza, in addition to racing 20 yards from goal to deny Braun his breakaway.
There were three changes to the starting 10 field players Spencer used in the first two MLS games. In the midfield, Alhassan started in place of Jeremy Hall and James Marcelin in place of Jewsbury, with Peter Lowry playing attacking midfield, while Marcelin was in the holding slot. On the back line, David Horst started instead of Kevin Goldthwaite.
Jewsbury came on in the 71st minute for Lowry. Hall entered for Ryan Pore on the right wing in the 65th minute.
Soon enough, Jewsbury, the Timbers’ captain, had the team’s first Portland goal and his team had its first meaningful victory.
NOTES — Rookie Darlington Nagbe suited up for the first time since surgery to repair a sports hernia and was among the seven reserve players for the Timbers, though he did not play.
— Chivas started eight of the 11 who started its home loss to Colorado last weekend.
— The Timbers return to MLS play by visiting New England at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. The team’s official viewing party on Saturday will be at Irish Town Bar and Grill in Vancouver.
— The Timbers added goalkeeper Kevin Guppy to the roster from the MLS player pool to fill in while Troy Perkins (knee) and Adin Brown (hamstring) recover from injuries.
