The Portland Timbers earned a brace from Diego Valeri in a wild Western Conference knockout win over FC Dallas on Wednesday night at Toyota Park, sending them to the Western Conference semis.
FC Dallas thought they had the opening goal in the 12th minute when Reto Ziegler headed in a free kick, however, his goal was called off after VAR ruled him offside.
Portland scored the official opening goal of the match on Diego Valeri’s free kick to the upper 90, past a diving Jesse Gonzalez to put the Timbers up 1-0 in the 23rd minute.
What. A. Free-kick. ?
Diego Valeri puts Portland ahead 1-0.
(? via: @MLS)https://t.co/W2Qy9DUur1
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 1, 2018
Portland went down a man in the 58th minute when Larrys Mabiala took down Dominique Badji, who was on his way to goal, just outside the 18-yard box. Mabiala earned the red for his tackle, putting the Timbers down a man.
Valeri doubled his total in the 71st minute on a goal to the far post, taking advantage of bad positioning by Gonzalez who ran to the top of his 18, but ran into his own defender.
FC Dallas had trouble finding the back of the net throughout the majority of the match but pulled one back three minutes into the second half stoppage time on a goal from Matt Hedges. They had an opportunity in the final minutes of stoppage to pull even and force extra time, however, they couldn’t find the back of the net.
While Dallas’s season abruptly ends, Portland awaits the result of Thursday’s match between LAFC and Real Salt Lake to see who they’ll play in the Western Conference semis.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Diego Valeri’s brace helped guide the Portland Timbers back to the Western Conference semis.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH: Valeri’s second goal came with the Timbers down a man and through poor decision making to come out of the six-yard box from Dallas’s Jesse Gonzalez.
MATCH TO FORGET: Jesse Gonzalez couldn’t reach Valeri’s free-kick goal in the first half but made the wrong decision to come out of his six-yard box in the second half where he also ran into his defender who was taking on Valeri on the goal.
That crowd. Yuck. The weather looked miserable, and I’m sure the fact that the game was on a Wednesday night that also happened to be Halloween didn’t help matters. But still, this is not a good look for an MLS playoff game. Glad the game was on Univision here, where non-soccer sports fans less likely to stumble upon it.
Whenever I watch a game from either Dallas or Houston I see a lot of empty seats. They should move one of those teams to Austin instead of moving Columbus.
+1. Despite their vaunted academy system, the crowds in Dallas have always sucked. At least now we’ll get at least one game (and one awesome Tifo) in Portland.
Oh and? I’d definitely take Diego Valeri on my team.
The second goal came on an over the top pass from the midfield. Timbers Ebobisse won the ball in the air over Dallas defender Ziegler and played a soft pass to a late run of Valeri just outside the six yard box. At that poin Gonzalez had no chance no matter where he was and with Valeri able to pick a corner. It was a very well worked sequence being down a man Timbers midfielder David Guzman playing a great ball to the match up the Timbers could win between Ebobisse and Ziegler.
FC Dallas dominated down the right all night with Barrios being an outlet to kickstarting the attack with combos of crosses and passes inside the 18yard box. Barrios speed and passing accuracy created the best scoring opportunities of the night. Timbers Jeff Attinella made at least five up close crucial saves with parts of his body including his face.
This was a physical chippy match with referee Alan Kelly frequently letting players play through each other on 50/50 balls. Yet, honest consistency from Kelly and no beef with the obvious red card by Larys Mabiala
The chilly wet night in Dallas left the stands a quarter full despite the home team playing in a playoff knockout match? Playoff success continues to evade Dallas after yet another up and down season
Can the Timbers keep some momentum going against either Seattle or KC? One thing for sure is stands wil be packed at both home and away matches yet to come regardless the opponents!