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Jahn’s stoppage-time equalizer earns Earthquakes draw vs. Timbers

TimbersQuakes (USATodaySports)

Photo by Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports

BY MIKE DONOVAN

For a second straight game, the Portland Timbers were facing the San Jose Earthquakes, and for a second straight match the Timbers were in control and holding a one-goal lead late in the second half.

The script changed late though, and reverted to one we have seen from the Earthquakes far too many times to be surprised by. Another late charge, and another late goal helped San Jose snatch a late result.

On Sunday night, it was rookie Adam Jahn playing the role of hero, when he powered home a stoppage-time equalizer to help the Earthquakes salvage a 1-1 draw at Buck Shaw Stadium.

Jahn, who came onto the pitch minutes before his goal, found himself all alone in front of Donovan Ricketts and blasted the shot past the Jamaican keeper. It was the second time in the young season that Jahn has been able to tie a game with a late goal off the bench. Jahn’s equalizer also marked the tenth time since the start of the 2012 season that the Earthquakes scored a stoppage-time goal.

While the Timbers (2-1-4, 10 points) were able to get a point on the road, they join the long list of teams that has San Jose (2-3-3, eight points) thinking they should have gotten a better result. Thanks to two outstanding first-half saves by Ricketts, it looked like Portland might be able to shut out the Earthquakes for the second consecutive match. Despite giving up the goal, Ricketts is in the midst of his best stretch since arriving in Portland in a trade midway through last season.

Jahn’s goal also nullified Diego Valeri’s second goal of the season. The Argentine midfielder ended a nice string of passing with a one-time blast that easily beat Jon Busch. Valeri was in the starting lineup after missing Portland’s last match with concussion-like symptoms and was the first Timber player substituted out of the match.

The game didn’t feature the same fireworks as the one that took place last week in Portland. That match was filled with shoving matches, hard fouls, and Alan Gordon getting a red card. While the rematch produced a few heated moments, most involving Steven Lenhart, San Jose played with more skill than the first match between the clubs.

One major difference was Shea Salinas being inserted into the starting lineup. Salinas, who was held out the match on the turf of Jeld-Wen Field, was a constant nuisance to Portland in his 60 minutes of action. On numerous occasions Salinas was able to get behind the Timbers fullbacks and was also constantly pressuring Portland’s midfield.

When Salinas was subbed off, he was replaced by Marvin Chavez, who was making his season debut. Chavez immediately took up where Salinas left off, constantly harassing the right side of the pitch. Steven Beitashour also made his 2013 debut for the club.

Portland was able to barely win the possession edge and had just three shots-on-goal. Despite this, Portland was a few minutes away from shutting out San Jose in back-to-back games and having their first three-game winning streak since joining MLS. Instead, they will have to settle for starting the season with three straight road draws.

Portland will be on the road again next weekend as they will travel to take on Sporting Kansas City on Saturday, while San Jose will take on Chivas USA at the Home Depot Center.

Here are the match highlights:

 

Comments

  1. All the talk about Lenny being the scourge of MLS is comical. Every team has a CB or Dmid that plays on the edge and sometimes goes over the line. Players have a way of evening things out over the course of the game, it’s expected and understood. Last night Lenny barrels into Futty from behind, then half and hour later, guess what happens, Futty nails Lenny with an equally bad slide tackle. It’s all square, the score is settled and the game goes on. The players practically police themselves. If it escalates the ref steps in. I doubt that anybody complaining about this stuff has every played ball at a decent level. The give and take…hard fouls, cheap fouls, baiting, grabbing, head games are actually part of the game. Let the boys play, it all evens out.

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  2. Why does the MLS allow Lenhart to get away with his b.s.? His shtick is tiresome and should have been red carded on two occasions but only received one yellow? The Futty Danso foul was reckless with intent to injure but only a yellow? Kicking Will Johnson while on the ground was blatant for everyone to see, what was Lenharts intent? Besides being an a-hole!

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    • Lenhart is a disgrace. would not mind seeing him die by the sword since he lives by it. Futty tried, and no problem here with that. Lenhart deserves it, asks for it, so I hope every team in the league does it to him every single game and if he gets injured, so be it

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    • I don’t mind chippy play, didn’t mind the “Bash Brothers” edge last year, but Leny and Gordon have crossed the line a few times early this season. I would not have been surprised to see red after the kick on Johnson. Seemed like the whole team was reckless with tackles last night too. Hope Yallop can reign it in a bit without taking that chip off their shoulders.

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      • I’ll be the first to admit I have no idea what goes on behind the scenes in SJ, and wouldn’t know Yallop if I bumped into him on the street, but isn’t he sort of the common denominator here? You’ve got an entire team full of players who tackle late, from behind, and with studs showing, basically daring the referee to send them all off, including several who enjoyed a decent reputation before the last few years. Someone has to be sending the message to the players that this type of garbage is acceptable and even to be encouraged; after all, the results on the field have been generally good. Lenhart, of course, is in a league of his own for his classless and dirty play. Hopefully the league will see fit to nail him for both the kick and the mini-head-butt on Johnson. He’s such a disgrace.

        But ultimately, when a certain style of play is evident across the vast majority of a team, the manager has to bear some of the blame. Of course, given the well-earned reputation of their supporters for criminal thuggery (yes, just a small segment of them, to be sure) maybe the rot runs even deeper. Perhaps between sanctioning the supporters, Gordon’s month off, and possible punishment for Lenhart, the light will go on for somebody.

      • My understanding is Yallop is a pretty “hands off” guy, letting players figure things out on the pitch for themselves. He just looks for players who are “competitive” and find their own motivation. I think when the game is not going well, he likes to see players getting physical to try and get back into the game, physically and psychologically. That it seems to happen every game shows how much the quakes are struggling this season without all their starters fit; at least that’s what I think is happening.

      • So you don’t see a problem with Dangerous tackles being thrown on the regular? And also kicking players who are on the ground? You must be in the 1906 Ultras who just got their asses sanctioned by their own organization. Congratulations on being a POS.

      • Dangerous tackles happen every game this isn’t tennis there is going to be contact. Now is Lenny a bit more aggressive than most, maybe. The difference is the reaction of the fan’s. For Example when Shay Salinas was pulled down and kicked that lead to a broken collar bone SJ didn’t troll around the internet making threats and making up stories to try worsen the situation. I get you people are bored living in the PNW but stop acting like children and making a big deal about something it’s not. And may I say thank you for showing the exact Seattle computer tough guy act I was speaking too… Being an SJ fan I’m holding out my judgment on the Ultras for what happened last weekend at this point I’ve seen a lot of finger pointing by Portland fan’s but the funny thing is there are no arrests. I’m not saying it didn’t happen but to blame the Ultras when the march included just as many average fans as Ultras from what I’m being told from people that were there it idiotic. But you keep it up tough guy!

      • I’m a Quakes fan, and I agree with some of this comment. Maybe a result of no preseason for key players, but the midfield isn’t keeping possession, Morrow and Salinas aren’t crossing worth a damn, and the forward line is out of synch. And yes, the midfield has a disturbing tendency to resort to reckless slide tackles when faced by a possession-oriented team like Portland. Trying to make up for lack of skill and pace with energy. I’m hoping that as the team plays more together, at least some of this will get better.

  3. Anyone unhappy with NBC sports coverage of MLS? Only one game that I saw was broadcasted LA vs KC this past week. Fox Soccer used to have like 2 games on Saturday night, one game on the Spanish channel on Sunday and usually one game during the week on ESPN.

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