PORTLAND TIMBERS vs REAL SALT LAKE
PROVIDENCE PARK, Portland, Ore.
March 7, 2015 (WEEK 1, MLS Game #6)
7:30 p.m. PT (ROOT-NW; KMYU-12)
One of the burgeoning rivalries in recent years in the Western Conference kicks off the new season when the Portland Timbers play host to Real Salt Lake on Saturday evening at Providence Park. The teams met two seasons ago in the Western Conference Championship, RSL advancing to their second MLS Cup as a result. A year ago, under new head coach Jeff Cassar, Real returned to the MLS Cup Playoffs, only to fall at the first hurdle to eventual champion LA, while the Timbers weren’t able to build on their first ever postseason appearance in Caleb Porter’s second year in charge.
REFEREE: Ismail Elfath. AR1 (bench): Ian Anderson; AR2 (opposite): Jeff Hosking; 4th: Juan Guzman
MLS Career: 41 games; FC/gm: 25.3; Y/gm: 3.1; R: 12; pens: 12
SUSPENDED: none
DISABLED LIST: none
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (11 meetings): Timbers 2 wins, 13 goals … Real 5 wins, 18 goals … Ties 4
AT PORTLAND (5 meetings): Timbers 1 win, 6 goals … Real 1 win, 6 goals … Ties 3
RETURN MATCHES: 8/15: Real Salt Lake vs. Portland Timbers, 8 p.m. MT; 10/14: Real Salt Lake vs. Portland Timbers, 7:30 p.m. MT
LAST YEAR (MLS)
4/19: RSL 1, POR 0 (Grabavoy 78)
6/7: RSL 1, POR 3 (Mulholland 23 – Adi 36, 45; Johnson 73)
10/17: POR 0, RSL 0
- The teams have played to consecutive scoreless draws in regular season meetings over the last two years at Providence Park.
- The last three league meetings in Portland have all been draws; the only Portland home win vs. Real Salt Lake came in the first meeting ever, in 2011.
- RSL also won in Portland in the 2013 Western Conference Championship, Real winning 4-2 in Sandy in the first leg, then taking a 1-0 win at Portland to advance to MLS Cup 2013 5-2 on aggregate.
- Coaches record: Caleb Porter vs. RSL: P6 W1 L2 D3 … Jeff Cassar vs. POR: P3 W1 L1 D1
PORTLAND TIMBERS
The Portland Timbers kick off 2015 looking for a return to the MLS Cup Playoffs in their fifth season, missing out a year ago after reaching the postseason the year before for the first time in the club’s MLS history. Caleb Porter is in his third season in charge after seeing his team end with 49 points for a sixth-place finish in the Western Conference.
TEAM NEWS
- The Timbers concluded their preseason with a 1-0 win against Norway’s Stabaek IF in the finale of their Simple Invitational held at Providence Park. Fanendo Adi scored the game’s lone goal.
- Here’s the Timbers team: Adam Kwarasey -- Alvas Powell, Nat Borchers, Liam Ridgewell, Jorge Villafaña (Jeanderson, 46), Jack Jewsbury, Darlington Nagbe (Schillo Tshuma, 81), Blair Gavin (NIck Besler, 81), Dairon Asprilla (Gaston Fernández, 62), Fanendo Adi (Maximiliano Urruti, 62), Rodney Wallace
- “I thought moving back to 4-3-3 and the lineup we played to start the game with more true wingers gave us a little bit more penetration. Those front four guys are dynamic. We went with a pace-power component and we were able to get some good width,” said Timbers head coach Caleb Porter. “The goal came through Jorge [Villafaña] on the flank. I thought we also created some stuff through [Dairon] Asprilla as well. Then you had [Fanendo] Adi and [Darlington] Nagbe, who were pretty good linking up.”
- The Timbers concluded their preseason with a 2-1-3 record, including three clean sheets – two of those coming against MLS opposition (Sporting Kansas City and San Jose Earthquakes).
- “We’ve got different personnel choices that we can make based on the game, and now we’re flexible a little bit more in terms of system. We can quickly shift now because we played a 4-4-2 a lot of the preseason. We can play that now if we want to, or we can go back 4-2-3-1 if we want to, or even play a 4-3-3 and we can pick and choose our wingers and that changes what we do,” said Porter. “I think that makes us unpredictable. Salt Lake won’t know what we are going to do because we played a number of different lineups, which is good. There might be another wrinkle we throw on just like we did (vs. Stabaek).”
- The Timbers came into the final preseason match off two matches against MLS competition – a 1-0 loss to Cascadia rivals Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Feb. 22, and a 1-1 draw with the Chicago Fire on Feb. 25. The Timbers won once in four games vs. MLS foes in the preseason, defeating Sporting Kansas City to open proceedings on Jan. 31.
- Here’s the Timbers team vs. Chicago: Andrew Weber – Taylor Peay (Danny O’Rourke, 79), Norberto Paparatto, Anthony Manning, Jeanderson (Andy Thoma, 61); Dairon Asprilla (Winchester, 78), George Fochive, Nick Besler (Blair Gavin, 61), Michael Nanchoff (Schillo Tshuma, 28); Gastón Fernández (Darlington Nagbe, 46), Maximiliano Urruti (Fanendo Adi, 46)
- The Timbers did suffer an injury blow in the tournament when Ben Zemanski suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that required surgery. He is expected to miss at least five months.
TRANSACTIONS IN: GK Adam Larsen Kwarasey (transfer from Strømsgodset); MF Dairon Asprilla (transfer from Alianza Petrolera); DF Nat Borchers (trade from RSL); DF Jeanderson (free); MF Nick Besler (SuperDraft); DF Andy Thoma (SuperDraft)
TRANSACTIONS OUT: MF Steve Zakuani (retired); DF Michael Harrington (traded to Colorado); MF Kalif Alhassan (option declined); MF Steven Evans (option declined); DF Bryan Gallego (option declined); DF Pa Modou Kah (option declined); DF Rauwshan McKenzie (out of contract); DF Danny O'Rourke (out of contract); FW Jose Valencia (sold to Club Olimpo Bahía Blanca); GK Donovan Ricketts (Expansion Draft to Orlando City)
REAL SALT LAKE
Real Salt Lake extended their streak of reaching the MLS Cup Playoffs to seven seasons a year ago, before their campaign ended at the hands of eventual champions LA Galaxy. Jeff Cassar led RSL to a third-place finish in the Western Conference in his first season in charge as the club recorded 56 points for a second straight year.
TEAM NEWS
- Real Salt Lake claimed the championship of the Desert Diamond Cup in Tucson, Ariz., following a 2-1 victory against the Colorado Rapids on Saturday evening, winning all four of their matches in the event.
- Here’s the RSL team for the championship match: Nick Rimando, Tony Beltran, Jamison Olave, Chris Schuler, Abdoulie Mansally, Kyle Beckerman, Luis Gil (Jordan Allen 83), Javier Morales, Sebastian Jaime (Devon Sandoval 54), Alvaro Saborio (sent off 50), Olmes Garcia (Luke Mulholland 68).
- Javier Morales was named the event MVP, scoring the game-winning goal. Morales is filling the playmaking role in RSL’s new-look 4-3-3 tactical scheme.
- “I think it’s another weapon in the arsenal,” RSL head coach Jeff Cassar said of the 4-3-3. “Our roster has changed a little bit. Where we were very deep in the midfield before, now we seem to have a little bit more top-heavy players. It’s all about getting all those players on the field while also still playing the same soccer that we want.”
- Said technical director Craig Waibel: “This core has been together for so long that the rest of the league’s played against them for long enough that they’ve started to figure out little ways to defend against the diamond. So we’re actually developing more options, and we’re in the process of exposing the guys to different looks and different spots on the field that we think really emphasize another evolution for our team.”
- Devon Sandoval scored three goals to lead the tournament, two from penalty kicks, netting in each of the three preliminary matches to put RSL into the final. Emery Welshman and Olmes Garcia also hit the back of the net in the tournament.
- “This past offseason I worked really hard to get myself ready and mentally prepared and I think it’s shown,” Sandoval said. “It’s time to really put in the work and get ready for Portland.”
- Real concluded the preseason with three victories in three matches against MLS opposition, also defeating the New England Revolution 1-0 and Sporting Kansas City 2-1 in Tucson.
- “There are different ways that we want to play and there is different personnel involved,” RSL head coach Jeff Cassar said. “We can put out a lot of players to play the way we want to. I think we have a lot of options to choose from. It’s down to myself and my staff to choose the right combination of players on the field.”
TRANSACTIONS IN: MF Sebastian Saucedo (Homegrown); DF Jamison Olave (trade from New York Red Bulls); DF Boyd Okwuonu (SuperDraft); MF Wellington Paeckart (free); DF Phanuel Kavita (Homegrown); DF Demar Phillips (free); DF Aaron Maund (re-signed); DF Elias Vasquez (free)
TRANSACTIONS OUT: DF Rich Balchan (option declined); FW Benji Lopez (option declined); MF Cole Grossman (out of contract); DF Nat Borchers (traded to Portland); MF Ned Grabavoy (Expansion Draft to NYCFC); DF Chris Wingert (Expansion Draft to NYCFC); FW Robbie Findley (Re-Entry Stage 1 Draft); MF Sebastian Velasquez (traded to NYCFC); DF Carlos Salcedo (transfer to Guadalajara)
