Portland Timbers coach Phil Neville has a summation of his team as it heads down the homestretch of the MLS season.
“We’re coming to the last 100 meters of the race and, as they say, we’re in it to win it,” he said.
To achieve what Neville wants to do, Portland could stand to continue its recent dominance of the Colorado Rapids when the teams meet Saturday night in Commerce City, Colo.
The Timbers (11-9-7, 40 points) are 4-0-1 in their last five fixtures with Colorado, including two wins this year by a combined 8-1. Of course, those games were in Portland, not more than 5,000 feet above sea level.
In their last match on Aug. 31, the Timbers blanked Seattle 1-0 for their fifth clean sheet of the season. Evander has been their star offensively, getting on the scoresheet in eight straight matches. His 12 goals and 16 assists constitute the best offensive season for the franchise since Diego Valeri was involved in 32 goals in 2017.
“The boys have trained well after having some rest,” Neville said.
Meanwhile, the Rapids (13-9-5, 44 points) stand four places and four points above Portland in the West table. They hung on to fourth place via a 3-2 win at Dallas on Aug. 31 that 18-year-old Darren Yapi sealed with a goal in the third minute of stoppage time.
It was his third goal in 12 matches (counting regular season and Leagues Cup), impressing coach Chris Armas.
“He believes he’s got big things ahead,” said Armas. “He’s been training well. He’s been coming into games with really mature performances. Great goal — such an important goal for our club.”
Rafael Navarro tallied a brace to bring Colorado back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits, giving him 13 for the year. He’s three away from the team’s franchise record with seven matches remaining.
An offensive explosion in this game wouldn’t exactly be a major surprise. Portland is second in the league with 55 goals and the Rapids are tied for third at 53. Both are also in the bottom 10 in conceding goals.
–Field Level Media
