PORTLAND — The Portland Timbers faced an important opportunity on Sunday, but after a long rest they slept through the alarm clock.
A listless first-half performance in a 2-0 loss to the New York Red Bulls means the alarm ringing for the Timbers now is the sound of the uncomfortably close playoff line.
“Disappointing,” Timbers coach Caleb Porter said. “We’re going to have to go on the road and win now — do it the hard way.”
Porter said he needed to watch the game again and reflect on the match to give an explanation for his team’s sluggish start. The Timbers were playing for the first time since Sept. 9 and only their second game in three weeks.
“We didn’t look sharp from the start. Why is that? Is it the break?” Porter wondered.
The Red Bulls played on the East Coast on Wednesday and figured to be the side struggling for energy. But New York took the game to Portland from the opening whistle. Timbers defender Nat Borchers said the match felt a lot like the April 12 visit from Orlando City — another 2 p.m. Sunday kickoff and until this, Portland’s only home loss of the season.
“The ability to come out and boss the game at home is so important in this league,” Borchers said. “From the get-go they were pressing us and we weren’t dealing with it well.”
Despite poor decisions with the ball and an inability to link passes, the Timbers were almost to halftime before New York broke through.
In the 44th minute Brazilian midfielder Felipe scored with a swerving shot from 30 yards. It was a terrific strike, but came after he dribbled the ball at least 20 yards without a Timber stepping up to defend him.
A more costly breakdown came in first-half stoppage time. After Alvas Powell cleared one Red Bulls corner-kick chance off the goalline, New York’s Damien Perrinelle outjumped Powell to head home a long cross, stunning the Providence Park crowd.
“That’s a set piece and they were pressing us virtually the whole first half and toward the end you could tell we got tired,” Borchers said. “We weren’t able to track guys as well, we weren’t able to make our clearances as well.”
Borchers plays central defense, but he had Portland’s two best scoring chances Sunday. In the first half he had a clean chance 12 yards from goal but hurried the shot and sent it well high.
“Got to get my head over the ball — (that is) a schoolboy error, for sure,” Borchers said. “Get a little excited. I could probably have taken a touch if I wanted to.”
His other chance was a second-half tap-in that Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles somehow managed to steer wide. The play started with Robles stopping a Diego Valeri free kick that deflected off of Borchers. Robles was credited with four saves, the most difficult perhaps a kick stop of a Valeri counter-attack chance in the first half.
The Timbers pressed New York through much of the second half, taking 12 of their 17 shots. But as has been true often this season, shots did not produce goals. Fanendo Adi had a pair of headers go right at the New York goalkeeper, and Will Johnson had a shot skim the cross bar.
But the Timbers came up empty for the 12th time in 29 games this season. They have scored 29 goals in 29 games.
“We need to take some time on this one and really evaluate what went wrong,” Borchers said. “We made things more difficult for ourselves right now, but it’s still all there for us.”
From the pitch
What the result means: Portland (11-10-8) remains sixth in the Western Conference (the final playoff spot) but is only one point in front of San Jose and only three ahead of Real Salt Lake. New York (14-8-6) moved to the top of the Eastern Conference and became the first team to qualify for the MLS Cup playoffs.
Urruti starts: For the first time since Lucas Melano joined the team, the Argentine trio of Melano, Diego Valeri and Maximiliano Urruti started together. Porter noted that Fanendo Adi’s only goal in the previous nine games came on a penalty kick. “We felt his (ability to apply) pressure was a factor. Putting (Urruti) with Melano and Valeri, they’ve got a natural chemistry, that was a factor. And the fact that he’s probably our most natural finisher,” Porter said. “It was me trying to flip a switch. And I felt if the ball fell to Maxi he might be able to finish it and get hot.”
Adi on the scoring struggles: “Sometimes in football this happens. When things are going right, you just touch the ball and it’s going to go right into the net. We’ve had a rough time the past few games, but we’re not going to let it get into our heads.”
Former Timbers recognized: In honor of the 40th anniversary of the original Timbers, who joined the North American Soccer League in 1975, the club invited former players to Sunday’s game. Among the group recognized on the field at halftime was Peter Withe, who scored 17 goals to lead the Timbers to Soccer Bowl 75. Said Borchers: “They deserved a better match from us. We owe them an apology for sure.”
Next match: Timbers at Columbus, 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
