Vancouver were served up a three goal hammering by Portland Timbers that dealt a serious blow to their playoff hopes but gave those of their Cascadian rivals a massive boost.
Second half goals from Alvas Powell, Maxi Urruti and Rodney Wallace did the damage in a 3-0 victory that never saw Vancouver at the races.
Carl Robinson made some changes. With Johnny Leveron suspended, Kendall Waston came in for his home debut, and first MLS start, in the centre of defence. Matias Laba returned from his own suspension and new signing Mauro Rosales took his place in the right of midfield.
All that was expected. What wasn't was Erik Hurtado leading the attack, and I use the words 'leading' and 'attack' very, very loosely. With only one striker named to the bench, Darren Mattocks, it was clear from the start that this wasn't going to be an offensive powerhouse game from the Caps, but you would have thought that they would have at least had something.
The Whitecaps brought the game to Portland early it only took five minutes for Mauro Rosales and Pedro Morales to combine, with the Chilean heading over a perfect cross from eight yards out.
Kekuta Manneh was next to try his luck three minutes later after a good run, but his shot had the pace taken off it and easily went into the arms of Donovan Ricketts.
It was clearly early on just what an aerial presence Kendall Waston was going to bring to the Vancouver attack at set pieces and he did well to lose Liam Ridgewell to get on the end of a Morales corner 16 minutes in, but the Costa Rican could only head high and over.
Portland were hardly in the game as an attacking threat, with a Fanendo Adi shot into the side netting about all they had to show for things. Both teams seemed a little nervy in a goalless first half, with neither side able to get any dangerous attacks going.
It took just six minutes of the second half however for the game to kick into life and it was the visitors that grabbed the goal that did it.
Portland had put Vancouver under bit of pressure at the start of the second period and it paid off when Alvas Powell was allowed to run to the near post and head home a Diego Valeri cross unchallenged.
Vancouver were sparked into life but still had not attacking threat of note and Darren Mattocks came on at the hour mark and immediately added some.
The Jamaican ran on goal in the 66th minute but with little room or options could only fire a shot straight at Ricketts.
Vancouver's best chance came in the 73rd minute when Rosales played a neat one-two with Erik Hurtado but crashed a fierce shot into the side netting.
It was to prove a costly miss as Portland went two up moments later when their two subs combined to leave the Vancouver defence standing watching.
Michael Harrington sent a cross from the left to Maxi Urruti at the edge of the box and the Argentine had time to turn and crash home off the bar.
Worse was to come for Vancouver in the 79th minute when Darlington Nagbe slipped in Rodney Wallace, who easily hit the ball past Ousted for 3-0.
And that was it. It was a horrorshow for Vancouver and the win now sees them drop below the red playoff line with Portland taking their place. They'll need to pick themselves up quickly, with the Eastern Conference leading DC United coming to town next Saturday in a game they simply need to win to stay in touch.
FINAL SCORE: Vancouver Whitecaps 0 - 3 Portland Timbers
ATT: 21,000 sell-out
VANCOUVER: David Ousted; Steven Beitashour, Andy O'Brien, Kendall Waston, Jordan Harvey n(Sam Adekugbe 80); Matias Laba, Russell Teibert, Mauro Rosales, Pedro Morales, Kekuta Manneh (Darren Mattocks 60); Erik Hurtado (Sebastian Fernandez 76) [subs Not Used: Paolo Tornaghi, Ethen Sampson, Mehdi Ballouchy, Nicolas Mezquida]
PORTLAND: Donovan Ricketts; Alvas Powell (Michael Harrington 74), Pa Modou Kah, Liam Ridgewell, Jorge Villafana, Will Johnson, Diego Valeri, Diego Chara, Darlington Nagbe, Fenando Adi (Maxi Urruti 68), Rodney Wallace [subs Not Used: Andrew Weber, Gaston Fernandez, Jack Jewsbury, Ben Zemanski, Danny O'Rourke]
REACTION:
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS
CARL ROBINSON
Thoughts on the match:
"We got a doing today for the first time this season, me included. I don't think we were at our top performance levels that we've been most of the games this season at home. It's unfortunate because it was a fantastic opportunity for us and we sort of let ourselves down a little bit, not from effort but just maybe from concentration at certain moment of the game."
Thoughts on the loss:
"It's never nice to lose any game, whether you lose 1-0 or 3-0. They were better than us today. You go through our players and their players and their players probably come out on top in most individual battles. When you're 1-0 down we tried to change it and we had one or two half chances to get back into it at 2-0 and then they scored the third and we're chasing shadows at the end. Frustrating for us but I don’t think we were a threat throughout the game, and that was probably our biggest concern for me."
On the state of the defence for the three goals:
"I haven’t seen it, I just saw the ball hit the back of the net three times and them celebrating. So I’ll analyze it, I don’t think it’s good when you concede three goals. You don’t win many games when you do that. So we’ll look at it individually and collectively but any time you concede three goals at home it’s not good."
Concerns about the mentality of the team:
"No, because we’ve got nine games to go. Those boys in there and myself have put ourselves in this situation. It’s on us collectively to get ourselves out of that situation. The beauty about this game is there’s always another game. Our next game is in seven days’ time against a very good team."
Did calling it a "massive" game put too much pressure put on the players?:
"Maybe, maybe it could have been. It was a massive game, a rivalry game for us at home against a team that’s competing for the playoff spot so I could say it’s just another normal game but I wouldn’t have been honest, and that’s one thing I am. It was a massive game for us and we lost. So we take it on the chin and move on."
Where has Whitecaps' attack gone?:
"I’m not sure. I think it’s something we’ve got to look at because you’re right they (the Timbers) have conceded a lot of goals. But today they didn’t seem in any danger. Even if we would have hit our levels of attack in play I still don’t think we would have scored three goals. It’s something we have to look at individually and collectively and as a staff as well and find a solution. Because we’re not going to win games if you keep conceding goals."
On the players’ inability to capitalize in important games:
"I don’t know, we’ll see in the next nine games because there are going to be more games where we need to win. There are going to be more massive games and must win games. There are twenty seven points to play for at the moment. We disappointed today, we were beaten by the better team and we move on. We look forward to next Saturday because it’s another big game for us."
On how the starters played:
"I thought we did well in the first half. I think it was a very tense game and I said it literally after Pedro (Morales) went down and got a kick on his foot I said ‘whoever scores the first goal wins this game.’ I really did believe that and we really just got a little disjointed. Because Pedro got that little kick and Steven (Beitashour) was having a problem with his hip as well. They started to dictate the tempo of the game for the five or six minutes after it and then they scored. And then I was wishing that I hadn’t thought that the first goal was going to win the game. I was trying to get that thought out of my head but it proved right."
On if the team can come back with only nine games left in the season:
"I suppose I can answer that in nine games. Teams drop points, I think it’s just an indication of the league today. Seattle last week went to Portland and beat them very comfortably, we beat Seattle when they played here, I think deservedly so. And Portland deservedly beat us. I think that goes to show the dynamic of the league, that on any given day if you perform you can win any game of football. And if you don’t perform like we didn’t today, you’re going to lose."
Where is the hope for fans that the team will perform?
"It’s been in the first twenty plus games. We’ve shown that we can do it, we haven’t done it recently, and we’ve got to find a way to do that. Whether it’s a slight adjustment in the formation or its changing personnel but we know we can do it, we just haven’t been doing it. So we take responsibility for that. I take responsibility for that and we go again. There are teams that lose five, six, seven games on the trot but they still get into the playoffs along the line. We’ve been beaten today by the better team in a rivalry game which is disappointing. You know, I’m disappointed for the 22-thousand that came out today because they were brilliant. I accept responsibility for it and I’ll make sure the boys are up for it next week."
Any worries that Pedro Morales has played too many games in a row:
"I hope not. He’s played 13 months now nonstop which is why when I make the decision to leave him out and rest him it’s because I can sort of sense it. And maybe I get a bit of criticism when I leave him out. I’ve got to be careful of how I handle him because we’ve seen how good he can be. Today, he was okay. When he plays well we play well. And today he didn’t play to the levels of how we’ve seen him this season."
On if Pedro Morales was getting targeted at all today by Portland:
"In every game he gets targeted. If I was playing him I’d target him. We talk about repetitive fouling and all of that and there was quite a bit of that."
The most concerning aspect of the game:
"I’m disappointed because we lost a game. I don’t think we deserved to win. First half was tense but the second half we came out flat and conceded the first goal. And I think once that went in we couldn’t find an answer for that. I said it before the game they’re a very good team they won the western conference last year. So we knew it wasn’t going to be easy and it was a test for us and we failed a test today. And we move on. So disappointing but we’ve got to bounce back from that. They managed to bounce back from their defeat last week. We’ve got to bounce back our two defeats now. It’s probably the first time we’ve been well beaten this season and deservedly so today."
On Gershon Koffie missing three games and how valuable of a player he is:
"He’s a good player for us. I think everyone knows that, he’s been outstanding all year. The three games he’s missed now we’ve lost two. We haven’t really performed. He’s a big player, if you miss your big players it’s hard so we hope we get him back soon."
On putting Erik Hurtado in up front:
"First thought was that Darren (Mattocks) needed a bit of a rest, you know against LA last week he didn’t cover as much distance as he should have done. I spoke to him before the LA game with the intention of leaving him out for this game and he didn’t want that. I’ve got two centre forwards, I’ve got Darren and I’ve got Erik. So I was always going to leave him back one of these two games. I think Erik did well today without being the threat that I want him to be in that role."
Thoughts on the team not having a natural goal scorer:
"Natural goal scorers are very few and far between if you look throughout the league. We’ve got players that can score goals. They are the players that we’ve got and we are moving on with them and I’m confident that they can give us the goals that we need."
Thoughts on almost bringing Ethen Sampson on before first goal:
"Steven Beitashour was 50/50 up until yesterday and if he wasn’t good to go Ethen was going to play. At halftime you stiffen up if you’re an older player and Steven stiffened up a little bit just prior to when the goal went in. I was going to throw in the young kid because he has been good in training but I thought Steven was going to get through it and he did so he is lucky that he hasn’t been injured because he does have a bit of a hip problem."
Subbing Jordan Harvey off to give Sam Adekugbe some playing time:
"I wanted to have a look at Sam. Jordan at some point is going to come off for a game or two. So I think it was important to give Sam some minutes in front of this fantastic crowd and that was it."
JORDAN HARVEY
Thoughts on the match:
"Obviously disappointed. Any time you lose at home you’re going to be disappointed, three- zero. I think collectively as a group it just wasn’t good enough, they outplayed us tonight."
On subbing off late in the game:
"Well I think everyone is frustrated, I don’t think it was just coming off. We go down a goal, we push for the second, we pushed for one to equalize, we had a couple opportunities there, we don’t take them, and then they come down and punish us again, and then after that their third goal was just us pushing forward and kind of losing our legs because of that. Coming off, not coming off, still frustrating."
On generating more chances up front:
"I think first off forget about this game. This was a one off, I don’t think we’ve been outplayed all season, this was really the first time I think, in my eyes. Just go back to the drawing board, try to go back to how we were earlier in the season, maybe midseason at home or every other game besides this at home, go back to that, and regroup and get ready for DC."
On dropping out of a playoff spot with the loss:
"You know, it’s frustrating for a number of reasons, losing three-zero at home is one, them being a Cascadia rival is another. We didn’t really step up to the plate in terms of that, it’s a massive game, and we just didn’t do well enough. There’s a lot of reasons, obviously dropping points to them is another. You know I could go on and on, but overall it was just a bad night for us."
On not capitalizing on other team’s results:
"Well we obviously didn’t know the result going into this game, so I don’t think the results were a factor. You know, anytime we try to get a buffer, we still have a game on them, so we can still do that. We’ve got a few games at home coming up, and we’re just going to try to look forward to that, and try to get back the points."
KENDALL WASTON
Thoughts on the game:
"Well this is difficult, because when you lose you’re always trying to find out why you lose, but really now we have to wait and see, and look forward for the next game because we have nine more games, so this is not it. We are thinking that we can do it, we have faith that we can do it. You have bad days, and this was a bad day. We weren’t playing bad, we were playing good, but football is making goals, and they scored so now we have to look forward to the next match, and hopefully we can win."
On what went wrong defensively:
"It’s easy now to point at the wrong things about the goals, and it’s difficult to make a decision right now on what we did wrong, because we are not calm, so it’s better when we go to the house and watch the video, and see what we did wrong, and make sure we don’t do it again. So hopefully we can get better every day."
On his own performance:
"Really I don’t think about myself. I prefer not playing well and the team winning, so obviously everyone wants to play well, I think I played a good game, my teammates too, but football is about goals, and we just couldn’t score."
PORTLAND TIMBERS
CALEB PORTER
On the various personnel changes and how the changes were successful in this match:
"The credit 100 per cent goes to the players. Coaches can make decisions but they’re never good decisions unless the players execute. I thought from start to finish, both sides of the ball, it was the most complete performance of the year. Maybe the most complete performance since I’ve been here, against a very good team on the road. It feels good to be above the red line for the first time. A lot of teams would have quit, a lot of teams would have unraveled, this team hasn’t. We kept fighting and we kept pushing. And here we are, above the red line where we feel we belong. But now we have to stay there and we've got some very important games ahead."
On the victory:
"This was a real statement game. I think it was an important one to get confidence from as well. It was an important one to get a clean sheet. We got three goals, we had some great performances out of some guys who haven’t played quite as much. Alvas Powell, Jorge Villafana and I thought Kah was tremendous. And then you had the usual suspects And Rodney Wallace is back. It’s the first game I can honestly say he’s back, 100 per cent. He showed what he’s capable of doing in terms of goal production. It was a team effort and the players deserve all the credit."
On the decision to push Powell and Villafana forward up the flanks:
"I think a lot of it was predicated on the last game they played, which was a really good performance in Guyana. For me, I knew I couldn’t play them the next game because they were going to be fatigued. But I always in the back of my mind thought based on that game that I would have some tough decisions regardless of how that [seattle] game went. I’m real happy that we’re able to get back to playing the way we want to play. And we looked like the team that I want my team to look like. I was real proud of them."
On keeping a clean sheet:
"I thought it was a real team effort defensively. Obviously the back line and the goalkeeper get the bulk of the credit and the brunt of the blame, but they need help. And I thought today that they got help. But I also thought the back line really did a nice job defending some really talented attacking players. Hurtado, Mattocks, Kekuta, Rosales, Morales, these guys are very good players. And we didn’t give them much. But it helped having the front guys chipped in."
On why they didn’t sit back against the Whitecaps:
"That’s just not who I am. I’m not going to put a team out that sits back. Obviously we were smart with how we managed our lines. We talked this week about being okay if we do end up dropping deeper. But fortunately we were threatening them so much and we had so much of the ball that we didn’t end up having to drop much. I think that was the real key. But when the ball did turn over, we were organized. I think the key is that we got numbers behind the ball and we weren’t stretched."
On shutting down Morales:
"I thought Chara did a really nice job on Morales. I can’t remember Morales doing much on the day. We sat Chara a little bit more and locked him in on Morales. I thought that was a key because in some games we haven’t had that protection in the hole. I thought Chara did a really good job on Morales, who I think is one of the best attacking mids in the league."
JORGE VILLAFANA
On what it means to be over the red line:
"It means a lot because we were always fighting to get on top of that red line and finally we did it today, with a good performance. This is going to help boost our confidence going forward and we need to keep building on this and turn to the next game."
On whether it was their best performance of the season:
"I think we played a great game. In the first half, we had the ball, and in the second half, we completely shut them down. I think they didn’t create anything, maybe once, but it was out of our turnover. I think we dominated them on both sides of the ball, attacking and defending, in the second half, and this win gives us confidence going into the next games."
DARLINGTON NAGBE
Thoughts on the match:
"I think it went well, first half we kept it tight, 0-0, which is what we wanted. You always want to be either ahead or tied at halftime. Second half, we kept the ball out and the goals fell for us."
On the message from head coach Caleb Porter:
"He just told us to come out and try to deny them getting service and cut off their wide game, which is what they’re good at. So, we did the best we could to stop them from getting forward on the outside and try to counter, which worked out for us."
On what they’ll take from this match into next week’s game against San Jose:
"Well, we kept a clean sheet, which is something we haven’t done in a while. I thought we defended really well this game. We need to do the same against San Jose, defend well, play like we did today, and we’ll have success."
On what it means to get into a playoff spot, especially jumping Vancouver in the process:
"It feels good. Both of us are right there, they were right above us, right above the red line where we wanted to be. We knew this game was going to be close, and to finally get above that red line, where we’ve wanted to be all season, it feels great, and now we’re looking forward to San Jose."
ALVAS POWELL
On how it felt coming in and scoring his first goal:
"It’s a great feeling. I have always wanted to score, and it finally came true tonight. Hard work paid off."
On how important his performance was in such an important match:
"It’s very important. I’ve been working really hard in training and scored goals in training, so when this opportunity came, I was ready."
On how his spell in Sacramento helped his performance:
"In Sacramento, it was good. I worked really hard down there so I could come back to Portland and start playing."
On what he was thinking after scoring:
"A lot of things were running through my mind. I wanted to do a little dance or something, but I was really happy."