CITY hung their first championship banner in club history last night, but visiting Portland hung three goals on the hosts in a disappointing 3-2 loss to a Timbers side desperately trying to remain in the playoff race. CITY's late comeback attempt fell short, leaving them in a tenuous spot to stay in the top 4 in the West. Let's look at the goals from last night:
Kristoffer Velde - Goal (42')
Henceforth known as the Norwegian Brian White (Vancouver's notorious CITY killer) because he has absolutely torched St. Louis in two games this season, Velde took advantage of Portland's clear plan of attack last night: isolation play out on the left wing (CITY's right side defensively).
Here, Velde takes a long pass down the line from Cole Bassett and beats Lukas MacNaughton at the start of his run. Timo Baumgartl is in a support position, but he was in a space where Velde could have slid a pass to one of three Timbers attackers, so he stayed flat-footed to defend the area and couldn't react or step toward Velde.
MacNaughton arrived just as Velde slowed at the edge of the box, and the CITY defender just slightly overran the correct positioning. As he did, Velde deftly cut back across MacNaughton, who was turning to square up, but it created just enough space for Velde to fire a shot that beat Ben Lundt low and to his left.
Credit to Velde for a well-timed cut and excellent shot, but a slight mistake from MacNaughton created the space he needed to put Portland up 1-0.
David da Costa - Goal (45 + 3')
Portland's second goal followed a familiar pattern - a long pass down the left wing (this time from Jimer Fory) that was taken on the run by David da Costa. Rather than take it on the half-turn, he lets the ball run past and then sprints after it (somewhere Pep Guardiola is nodding in approval).
Timo Baumgartl was defending out on the wing this time as MacNaughton was pushed higher up the pitch, and da Costa went right at him, cutting back at the exact moment that Timo's weight shifted to his right leg. da Costa's move also caught Dante Polvara by surprise, who was positioned too far into the center to close down quickly enough.
This gap behind Timo gave da Costa all the room he needed to get a shot off, which went through Polvara and past Lundt. Another nice move by a Portland attacker to beat a CITY defender 1-on-1, with not enough defensive support. A mistake that cost CITY another goal and gave Portland a 2-goal lead.
Kristoffer Velde - Goal (48')
Portland's third goal started with another opportunity for da Costa, which Lundt saved well. da Costa collected the rebound and slid it to a trailing Velde. Timo Baumgartl, who had just recovered from sliding to defend da Costa's shot attempt, was miles away from the Norwegian when he received the pass on the edge of the box.
This space allowed Velde to push the ball out to his right, letting him run onto a wicked curved shot that bent around Baumgartl, past Lundt, and off the far post and in - an absolute cracker of a goal. Timo probably could have closed down faster to prevent Velde from having all that time and space, but credit where it's due - it was an outstanding strike from the Norwegian.
Daniel Edelman - Goal (58')
CITY clawed one back in the second half thanks to a nicely timed header by Daniel Edelman off a beautifully curled cross from Carlo Holse. The play started with a high press by Rafa Navarro off a turnover, and he forced Portland's Joel Waterman into a blind clearance up the line, which was headed back up field by MacNaughton.
Sang-bin collected the header and slid the ball to Holse, who was given all the time and space he wanted by a Portland defense conservatively defending a 3-goal advantage at that point. He sees Edelman making a run into an unoccupied center channel, splitting two Timbers defenders and elevating to drive the ball past a helpless James Pantemis.
Portland did do a bit of ball-watching here, but also their defensive passivity (3-goal leads will do that) gave Holse plenty of room to pick his spot, and his excellent curved cross was well-met by a perfectly timed run and header by Edelman.
Rafael Navarro - Goal (90 + 1')
CITY did manage to make it interesting late, as they got within a goal on what everyone (from the announcers to fans to CITY players to Sang-bin himself) thought was an awkward goal from the wing by the Korean winger, but turned out to be a flicked ball from Rafael Navarro.
Not a lot to analyze here, as Sang-bin whips a ball in from the side that Navarro somehow gets his boot on while (yet again) being held by a Portland defender. Marvelous skill to redirect the ball past Pantemis and draw CITY back to within one.
