BEAVERTON, Ore. – The Portland Timbers certainly don’t make it easy on themselves.
A week after going on the road and snaring a 2-1 victory over previously red-hot Columbus Crew SC, the Timbers returned home with a chance to move up the crowded Western Conference table with a result against a Sporting Kansas City team playing their third game in a week and coming off their US Open Cup championship – and celebration – just a few days prior.
And sure enough, when game time rolled around at Providence Park, Kansas City trotted out a reserve-filled lineup. But despite creating myriad chances, Portland couldn’t capitalize.
Kansas City sprinkled in a few starters late and pulled off a 1-0 win on a Krisztian Nemeth goal.
Despite all that – and scuffling along with just one win in their last six matches – the Timbers haven’t yet played themselves out of playoff contention. They’re currently in seventh place but tied on points with sixth-place San Jose Earthquakes for the final playoff spot with a game in hand.
Meaning, Portland still control their own destiny.
“We need some time to get over the last loss, and we have time to do that,” head coach Caleb Porter said Tuesday from the team facility after their first training session since the SKC loss, noting that they’ll have eight days to prepare for their next match, next Wednesday at Real Salt Lake (9:30 pm ET; MLS LIVE). “And then we’re going to go build up in a way that will put the guys in position to be flying to get the result against Salt Lake.”
But it won’t be easy.
Real Salt Lake has never been an easy place for Portland to play, as they went winless in their first five attempts (0W-4L-1D). The good news is that they have won their last two games at Rio Tinto Stadium, with their most recent win coming on August 15.
RSL are chasing a postseason spot of their own, trailing Portland and San Jose by just three points. Then Portland face a quick turnaround before playing at LA Galaxy on October 18. They finish out the season at home against the Colorado Rapids.
San Jose finish out the season against Kansas City and FC Dallas, both entrenched playoff teams.
“We still control our fate,” Porter said. “I think that’s the real key. We can look back all we want, but we need to look forward. We still control our fate. We missed an opportunity to put ourselves in a better position, it’s not the best-case scenario, we haven’t taken care of business at home, and that’s disappointing. But it’s my job to get the group focused on the task at hand.”
The biggest task at hand will be figuring out how to reverse their season-long conundrum of scoring goals. They’re the second-lowest scoring team in the league with 31 goals from 31 games; only the Rapids (30 goals in 31 games) have scored less.
Against Sporting Kansas City, they fired off 17 shots, six on goal, without a goal, underscoring their problem of creating plenty of chances – they’re tied for No. 1 in the league with 444 shots – without the payoff.
“You just have to keep believing in your players; I’ve said this time and again, it comes down to the player in that moment,” Porter said. “We train around goal every single week, just like every team, it comes down to composure, quality, technique in that moment. … You can’t emulate the game in training, but you can build confidence in training. And yet, if you have worry about that too much then something is missing there. Guys have to finish; they know that, it’s part of the job.”
Dan Itel covers the Timbers for MLSsoccer.com.
