PORTLAND – The Portland Timbers failed to claim all three points from their 1-1 draw against the Vancouver Whitecaps. But they are not complaining after weathering a strong start from their Cascadian rivals and snatching the opening goal against the run of play.
"The interesting part is that we found a goal when we didn’t play our best, then they found a goal when they didn’t play their best,” said head coach Caleb Porter after the match. "I am not happy with the point, but it is probably fair based on the performance of both teams today.”
After a match that was hard-fought and physical from start to finish, the Timbers only seemed disappointed in their inability to put away the game once they had taken the lead.
Despite netting his first goal since returning from a rolled ankle suffered back in May (and just his second on the year), Timbers goalscorer Diego Valeri was similarly unhappy with the lack of three points.
"When you score, it is always good, but for me if we don’t win, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “For me the most important is the team and getting three points, but we couldn’t.”
The draw ends the Timbers’ five-game winning streak at Providence Park and leaves the Timbers in sixth place in the Western Conference, while a win would have moved Portland to the top of the West thanks to the Seattle Sounders’ 1-0 loss to the Colorado Rapids.
Even more galling is that coming into this match, the Timbers had only conceded six times in 10 games at home.
For Porter, the Timbers should have been able to hold on for the clean sheet, particularly after the team started to come together in the second half.
“One of the things that I said at halftime was that I know we need to play better in the second half, but at least if we don’t find the second goal, let's get out of here with the clean sheet and three points.,” he said. “That didn’t happen, and for me that is probably the most disappointing part.”
Valeri, as usual, kept things in perspective.
"We didn’t play well in the first half and we scored; it was a little bit unfair, I would say. But in the second half they scored and they didn’t create a lot,” he said. “That’s soccer."
