Clark's Heroics Salvage Point for Ten-Man Timbers

A venue like Providence Park has hosted its share of memorable contests. The one played there on Saturday night between the Portland Timbers and Colorado Rapids might not stand out, but it might well stand alone.

It was a game that had a little bit of everything: a serious, emotional backdrop, a breathtaking own goal, refereeing controversy, injuries, a red card, a penalty, a terrific goal, a series of terrific saves, and a result that left neither side fully content nor terribly disappointed.

In one sense it was a circus, reminiscent of a bygone era in MLS. In another, it was a game that carried an unusual weight.

Considering the energy they spent midweek, and considering that they finished the evening a man down, with Zarek Valentin at center back and Cristhian Paredes at right back, the Timbers deserve credit for surviving it with a point.

Colorado, despite entering the night on the bottom of the Western Conference, put up a stiff fight — largely by taking the obvious approach to playing the Timbers in Portland: sitting ten men behind the ball, playing long, and forcing the Timbers to try to break them down via possession.

Breaking teams down with the ball has not, as we know, been the Timbers' forte over the last year-and-a-half. But it appeared an exceptionally challenging ask for an attacking group missing Brian Fernandez and saddled instead with Dairon Asprilla.

The Timbers' offense created precious little in the opening portion of the game, with the Rapids swarming Diego Valeri and Sebastian Blanco each time they touched the ball and relieving pressure effectively through the evergreen Kei Kamara. It was a struggle.

Then, midway through the first half, the Timbers got the mother of all breaks. Diego Valeri swung in a corner that Rapids defender Tommy Smith rose freely to meet, and then, to the shock of everyone inside the stadium, head directly into the back of his own net.

It was a spectacular own goal, almost a work of art. Tim Howard had zero chance to save it, if it was an attacking header, it hardly have been better placed. The Timbers' response was touching: to a man, they jogged towards their manager and enveloped him in a team-wide hug.

There was a very particular reason why. Giovani Savarese woke up on Saturday morning to the news that his father, Carlo, had passed away in Italy. Savarese, who missed Wednesday's game as he made the trip to say goodbye to his dad in person, wanted to coach anyway. His players, in turn, wanted to pick him up.

Their doing so, just a handful of feet in front of a sign telling Carlo to "riposa in pace," made the soccer that proceeded it feel decidedly small and insignificant. But that feeling would be abruptly altered not a minute later when the Rapids kicked the ball off, came right down the field, and scored an equalizer.

After an exchange of passes on the righthand side of the field, Diego Rubio sent Kamara into a wide channel with an opportunity to cross.

There was no Rapids player in the box to receive the forward's lofted pass, but what should have been Julio Cascante's clearing header fell to the feet of arriving winger Jonathan Lewis — just back from Gold Cup duty with the U.S. — who settled the ball with his first touch, and slotted it into the far corner with his second.

So, as suddenly as the Timbers had taken the lead, they'd relinquished it. With the score level again, Colorado settled back into its low blocks, the Timbers resumed trying to breach them, and the Rapids very nearly made them pay.

At the very end of the period, Diego Rubio and Kamara combined superbly to send Lewis racing free down the left with rookie Andre Shinyashiki for company on the weak side. Lewis squared the ball for what should have been a tap-in, but Clark, sprawling across the face of the goal, somehow clawed Shinyashiki's shot out.

Shinyashiki recovered the ball, then cut across Dielna, and lifted a cross towards the edge of the six-yard box and Kamara — who leaned in and powered a header for the corner, only for Clark to stretch out a hand and turn it away.

A minute later, Clark was at it again — turning away an excellent low Kamara volley with an outstretched palm. The forward, who had yet another shot turned onto the post by Clark earlier in the game, sank to his knees in response, then to the ground. He couldn't beat his former Columbus Crew teammate.

The whistle blew for halftime with the score tied at one, Clark standing tall as the game's decisive figure.

Ten minutes into the second half, though, he'd have unwelcome company: veteran referee Kevin Stott, whose no-call on contact against Sebastian Blanco as he drove towards the Rapids box was made hugely consequential seconds later when Cascante went scything through Kamara at the midfield stripe was sent off.

The Timbers were livid. Soon, though, out of nothing, they'd get another massive break. Lalas Abubakar and Jeremy Ebobisse went up for a floated ball in the box, it hit Abubakar's outstretched arm, and Stott whistled for a penalty.

Valeri stepped up to the spot, and, with his first opportunity of the night to make a serious impact, sent Howard the wrong way. Out of nothing, the Timbers' led again. This time, though, they'd need to maintain their advantage for a full half hour — and do it on short rest, short a center back.

Bolstered by the goal, the Timbers began going about their task vigorously. Then, with just more than 20 minutes to go, Rapids interim manager Conor Casey went to the bench for another true winger — lifting Kamara for the Scottish righty Sam Nicholson, and lining him up against makeshift fullback Renzo Zambrano.

It was an alarming matchup for the Timbers, and, five minutes later, they'd pay for it. Danny Wilson sent a ball over the top for Nicholson who controlled it as he squared up against Zambrano, drove inside, and slammed a shot into the back of the net.

Clark, either wrong-footed or unsighted, didn't move an inch towards it. Now, the Timbers had their backs to the wall: down a man, playing their third game in eight days, with no margin for error.

Nicholson shortly thereafter got isolated against Zambrano again and drew a foul, at which point Savarese moved Jorge Moreira over to the left to deal with the Rapids substitute, inserted Paredes to play right back, and mercifully moved the young Venezuelan back to central midfield.

Those changes seemed to stabilize the Timbers' defense, as Colorado began to tire as well. With the Rapids unable to put the makeshift Portland defense under any more serious pressure, six minutes of stoppage time came and went without incident. The match finished at two apiece.

Colorado truly should have won the game. They had the right gameplan, they had the better chances by a mile, and if not for Clark's outstanding form, or the glaring individual errors by their center backs, they would have done just that.

Nevertheless, the draw was the Rapids' first result in Portland in eight years — another feather in the cap of Casey, who has molded quite a decent team with quite a few promising young players out of what was an completely abject group under former boss Anthony Hudson.

For the Timbers and their manager, the best thing about this contest may simply be that it's over. The Timbers only have four days off until they face Orlando, but they're four off days as sorely needed as any they've had all year.

Down to the end of the bench, the players walked off the field spent. Savarese walked off with a bouquet of white roses, hand to his heart, thanking the Timbers Army for its very personal show of support for him and his family.

When asked about that support minutes later, Savarese was effusive in his appreciation for the fans, his players, and his organization — and honest in his most immediate reflection.

"It was a weird night," he said. Concise, and true.

Source: Portlandmercury.com

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Keywords:

Providence Park • Portland Timbers • Colorado Rapids • Own goal • Penalty card • Major League Soccer • Zarek Valentin • Defender (association football) • Defender (association football) • Portland Timbers • Colorado Rapids • Western Conference (MLS) • Portland, Oregon • Brian Fernández • Dairon Asprilla • Diego Valeri • Sebastián Blanco • Evergreen • Kei Kamara • Diego Valeri • Defender (association football) • Tommy Smith (footballer, born 1945) • Own goal • Own goal • Tim Howard • Giovanni Savarese • Italy national football team • Giovanni Savarese • Association football • Equaliser (sports) • Diego Rubio • Kei Kamara • Forward (association football) • Forward (association football) • Jonathan Lewis (soccer) • Colorado • Diego Rubio • Kei Kamara • Joël Dielna • Football pitch • Kei Kamara • Columbus Crew SC • Whistle • Referee (association football) • Kevin Stott • Sebastián Blanco • Kei Kamara • Midfielder • Penalty card • Jeremy Ebobisse • Association football positions • Conor Casey • Midfielder • Kei Kamara • Scotland • Sam Nicholson • Defender (association football) • Renzo Zambrano • Danny Wilson (footballer, born 1991) • Fernando Zambrano • Fernando Zambrano • Giovanni Savarese • Substitute (association football) • Esteban Paredes • Defender (association football) • Midfielder • Portland Timbers • Defender (association football) • Colorado Rapids • Portland Timbers • Colorado • Error (baseball) • Portland, Oregon • Anthony Hudson (footballer) • Orlando, Florida • Lou Savarese • Timbers Army •