The Portland Timbers started the season strong with two victories and a draw in their first three MLS matches.
Then things went downhill quickly. Now the Timbers will try to halt a three-game skid when they visit Sporting Kansas City on Sunday afternoon in Kansas City, Kan.
Portland (2-3-1, 7 points) outscored its opponents 8-4 over their first three matches. Since then, the Timbers have twice allowed three goals and been outscored 7-3.
Portland coach Phil Neville is disappointed in the drop in play, and that includes last weekend’s 3-2 road loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps.
“We want to be the hardest team to beat,” Neville said. “That comes with a mentality, and I just think our last two games we’ve been really soft in our mentality. That’s doing the basics well.”
Portland dug itself a 2-0 hole against Vancouver but recovered to tie the match on second-half goals by Evander and Felipe Mora. But Ryan Raposo scored on a rebound in the 87th minute to give the Whitecaps the win.
Sporting KC (2-1-3, 9 points) began the season with three straight draws before winning two of their past three matches.
Sporting KC posted a 3-1 road win at Toronto FC last weekend. The match was scoreless at halftime before Remi Walter tallied in the 57th minute and Jake Davis and Alenis Vargas added goals later in the half.
Sporting KC won despite not having standout forwards Alan Pulido and Johnny Russell due to hamstring injuries. It was the second straight missed match for Russell.
As of early Saturday afternoon, SKC hadn’t yet released its injury report.
Regardless of which players are on the field, SKC sees the opportunity to go on a run with the Portland match being the first of a three-game homestand. The second match is against Inter Miami at Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs.
“We have to have good games at home now,” Walter said. “We know what we have to do, and we will.”
One plus for SKC is that they are undefeated in their past eight regular-season home matches (4-0-4) against Portland. One of those victories was last season’s 4-1 decision on May 28.
Portland won the other 2023 meeting 1-0 on its home pitch on Feb. 27.
–Field Level Media
