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Timbers seek payback as postseason begins vs. Kansas City

The Columbian
Published: October 28, 2015, 7:09pm

The Portland Timbers figure they owe Sporting Kansas City.

By earning a tie and a win in two late-season visits to Portland, Sporting almost killed the Timbers playoff aspirations. Those results came despite the fact that Portland was the more dangerous team in the attack in both games.

“I like the fact that we’re playing them, because the last two games I felt we deserved more out of the game,” Timbers coach Caleb Porter said.

But it’s not only payback that the Timbers owe Kansas City. Nat Borchers believes the Timbers owe Sporting a thank-you.

“We owe them a little bit of a thank-you, because we had to get our backs against the wall and (had to) go on the road and win and really show what we’re made of and we did that,” Borchers said.

Perhaps the most common question asked of the Timbers entering Thursday’s 7 p.m. knockout round playoff match at Providence Park has been: What changed?

Thirty-two games into the 34-match regular season, the Timbers had scored only 32 goals. Then Portland put five on Los Angeles in one half and four on Colorado in Sunday’s regular-season capper.

One explanation is a changed role for Darlington Nagbe, who has responded to a more involved assignment in the middle of the formation. His three goals and two assists in the last two games show his offensive contribution, but Nagbe also has contributed defensively, which has helped give Portland’s most talented player with the ball at his feet more of the ball.

And the bounces have started to go the Timbers’ way.

“Things come around in this sport,” Porter said. “Sometimes it’s cruel (in the) short-term. I say this all the time, but it always tends to come around if you continue to earn the right for it to come around.”

The Timbers certainly will hope those bounces continue against goalkeeper Tim Melia, who made 13 saves in his two shutouts in those recent visits to Portland.

But it’s not just stellar goalkeeping that prevented the Timbers from scoring in any of the three regular-season matches against Kansas City. It has a lot to do with Sporting’s midfield play, according to Borchers, who pointed to the ability of Paulo Nagumura, Soni Mustivar and Benny Fielhaber to win and keep possession.

“I think that they do a good job just controlling the tempo of the game, that’s what we’re trying to do with our midfield as well,” Borchers said.

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