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March 19, 2024

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Timbers score late to beat NYC FC, 1-0

By , Columbian Soccer, hockey and Community Sports Reporter
Published:
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Portland Timbers' Dairon Asprilla (11), of Colombia, celebrates with teammate  Alvas Powell, of Jamaica, right, after scoring against New York City FC during an MLS soccer game at Yankee Stadium, Sunday, April 19, 2015, in New York.
Portland Timbers' Dairon Asprilla (11), of Colombia, celebrates with teammate Alvas Powell, of Jamaica, right, after scoring against New York City FC during an MLS soccer game at Yankee Stadium, Sunday, April 19, 2015, in New York. Photo Gallery

The Portland Timbers didn’t deliver a prime-time performance in Yankee Stadium on Sunday.

But since the game wasn’t on TV in many spots — that didn’t matter. And the Timbers certainly were not concerned with the artistic value of their 1-0 win over expansion club New York City FC.

“This is not our best game so far this season. We’ve played better earlier,” said Timbers goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey, who saved the victory late. “I think we just need to win some more games. We can’t just play sexy football and not get any points.”

With two wins, two losses and three draws, the Timbers are one of five Western Conference teams with nine points. Next up are a pair of Cascadia Cup clashes. The Timbers visit CenturyLink Field for a match at 6:30 p.m. next Sunday, then welcome the Vancouver Whitecaps to Portland on May 3.

Sunday’s win, coming a week after a frustrating home loss to Orlando City FC, was a result of some defensive toughness and Dairon Asprilla’s first Major League Soccer goal.

In addition to a needed three points in the standings, Sunday’s win at Yankee Stadium provided the Portland Timbers with individual confidence builders:

On top of that list should be goalkeeper Kwarasey, who came up huge to deny Khiry Shelton, who found himself one on one with the Timbers keeper in the 89th minute. Kwarasey came out to challenge the rookie from Oregon State and produced a beauty of a kick save with his right leg.

That was the fifth save of the night for Kwarasey, and came seconds after Shelton’s clean half volley went right to the Timbers keeper. Kwarasey also made a pair of saves on dangerous Patrick Mullins shots, including one from an angle in the 58th minute that Liam Ridgewell cleared away.

Others who should gain confidence from their play in Yankee Stadium are the goal-scorer Asprilla and Darlington Nagbe. Sure, neither player seems to lack confidence.

But Nagbe changed the game by becoming more assertive in the second half. As for Asprilla, a goal is a goal. Deflected or not, it can only help the Colombian settle in with his new club.

This match also was another step in the right direction for Ridgewell and Nat Borchers as a center-back tandem. Not that the veterans have been bad early in the season, but the more they play together the less likely they will be to have communication/understanding breakdowns.

Borchers came up big on several occasions: In the 31st minute he blocked a shot by Mehdi Ballouchy after a missed clearing attempt by the two center backs. He also made a big step-in tackle inside his own penalty area.

Nagbe’s role: After starting on the right wing in recent games, Darlington Nagbe started as an attacking central midfielder between new Timbers Ishmael Yarty on the left and Asprilla on the right. After a mostly quiet first half, Nagbe was dynamic on several second-half sequences, including the scoring play.

Asprilla’s deflected shot for the goal came after five NYCFC players surrounded Nagbe as he tried to penetrate the 18-yard box. When the ball popped away from Nagbe, Gaston Fernandez was there to push it along for Asprilla’s shot – which bounced off NYCFC defender Kwame Watson-Siriboe.

Prior to the goal, Nagbe plays on the ball created scoring chances for Yartey and striker Fanendo Adi that goalkeeper Josh Saunders did well to deny (though Adi had time and space to do better than he did with his chance).

“I thought Darlington (Nagbe) was exceptional again in creating chances for us,” Timbers coach Caleb Porter said. “And I thought our back six especially were really tight and organized and I thought they had a really good game.”

That back six included Jack Jewsbury alongside Diego Chara, the pairing that Porter went with in the second half of last weekend’s loss to Orlando City

Lineup notes: Timbers coach Caleb Porter returned to his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation. After starting Fanendo Adi and Maximiliano Urruti as dual forwards in the previous three games, he went with Adi alone up top. Yartey started on the left in place of Rodney Wallace, who did not make the trip, and Asprilla on the right (though they swapped sides at times). It is worth noting that Asprilla played 90 minutes before giving way in the 93rd minute to Jeanderson. Might we see Asprilla joining Nagbe and Diego Valeri in the attacking midfield once Valeri?

TV conflict: Sunday’s game was scheduled to be shown on Fox Sports 1. But those plans were washed away by a rain-delayed NASCAR race. The Timbers match was bounced to Fox Sports 2 (Dear Comcast, if your competitors can afford FS2, certainly you can. Respectfully, the soccer public). The webstream blackout was lifted so that the match was available to everyone through the Fox Sports 2 Go website. The good news is that next Sunday the Timbers match at Seattle is the second game of a MLS doubleheader on FS1 – and there is no NASCAR next week on FS1.

Timbers 1, New York City 0

Portland 0 1–1

New York City 0 0–0

First half–None.

Second half–1, Portland, Asprilla 1, 79th minute.

Goalies–Portland, Adam Kwarasey; New York City FC, Josh Saunders.

Yellow Cards–Powell, Portland, 68th.

Referee–Armando Villarreal. Assistant Referees–Craig Lowry. Brian Poeschel. 4th Official–Jose Carlos Rivero.

A–21,891 (49,642)

Lineups

Portland–Adam Kwarasey, Alvas Powell, Jack Jewsbury, Liam Ridgewell, Nat Borchers, Ishmael Yartey (Gaston Fernandez, 74th), Darlington Nagbe, Dairon Asprilla (Jeanderson, 90th+), Jorge Villafana, Diego Chara, Fanendo Adi (Maximiliano Urruti, 84th).

New York City FC–Josh Saunders, Chris Wingert, Jeb Brovsky (Pablo Alvarez, 83rd), Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Ned Grabavoy, Mehdi Ballouchy (Kwadwo Poku, 74th), Andrew Jacobson, Javier Calle, Patrick Mullins, Khiry Shelton, Tony Taylor (Sebastian Velasquez, 35th).

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Columbian Soccer, hockey and Community Sports Reporter