All good things must come to an end. The Portland Timbers had an unprecedented run of five successive home wins in their inaugural MLS season. Spurred on by the fanatic Timbers Army, the Timbers surpassed their already-lofty expectations and seemed to be improving their play on the pitch with every match.
However, on Saturday, DC United edged out the Timbers 3-2 at Jeld-Wen Field and ended their perfect home record. The DC United players held their nerve in a game that saw four penalty attempts and capitalized on their chances. They held off a late rally from the Timbers and secured their fourth win of the season.
DC United had five shot attempts in the game compared to Portland’s two. They also led the Timbers with shots on target, with three strikes compared to a lone shot by the Timbers. Spencer was critical of the team’s effort.
“We got what we thoroughly deserved, which is zero points,” Spencer said in a media statement. “DC United said they wanted to silence the crowd and be the first team to win at Jen-Weld. They did one of those two things. They never silenced the crowd, but they won the game. So they backed up their talk.”
Timbers will have the chance to get back to winning ways but they will have do it away at the Home Depot Center in California against Chivas USA on Saturday. The Timbers are in the sixth position in the Western Conference and are still in healthy contention for the playoffs. With almost a third of the season gone, the Timbers have an overall league record of five wins, four losses and two draws with 17 total points in the table.
The Timbers have already gotten the better of Chivas USA this season in the U.S. Open Cup play-in game at Jeld-Wen Field. The Timbers defeated Chivas 2-0 in a dominating performance and knocked them out of the competition. Team captain Jack Jewsbury and defender Eric Brunner each scored in the match.
Since then, Chivas has picked up five points from their last five MLS games and are placed seventh in the Western Conference, one spot below the Timbers. They trail conference leaders LA Galaxy by 12 points but have four games in hand.
Chivas hasn’t been able to win a match in their last four MLS outlings. They played the Vancouver Whitecaps at home on Wednesday and drew 1-1. Chivas took the lead in the 46th minute through Nick LaBrocca, but Vancouver responded in the 48th minute to still earn a point.
The Timbers have yet to win an away match and hold a record of no wins, two draws and three loses away from Jeld-Wen Field. They have earned just two points from five away games this season. Jewsbury and forward Kenny Cooper lead the team with three goals this season. Jewsbury and winger Kalif Alhassan lead the team with five assists each. Portland will certainly need production out of their offense if they hope to pick up three points this weekend. Kick-off against Chiva is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Saturday. ?