RSL go down to nine men, tie 2-2 at Portland

The Portland Timbers played the part of the home team for the first 15 minutes and were in complete control. Timbers fans thought they had a goal in the 2nd minute when Fanendo Adi looked like he scored a header but it was called offside and rightfully so. Juan Manuel Martinez had seen enough and maneuvered around a few defenders to earn a free kick just outside the penalty box. RSL had a trick up their sleeve and Javier Morales did a simple run over the ball which shifted the Timbers defense and then Joao Plata took the free kick. He placed it where the keeper was not and RSL went up 1-0.

There was plenty of pushing and shoving throughout and things were starting to get chippy when Kyle Beckerman made a dangerous tackle on Adi. The referee did not hesitate to show him red and RSL suddenly found themselves shorthanded on the road in the 31st minute. RSL did not look like they lost a man for the rest of the first half and maintained their lead.

Portland had their share of shots and chances to score out of the gates for the second half and RSL started to bend but were fighting hard under tons of pressure. RSL did not have many chances in the half but they did have a nice chance off of a throw in from Tony Beltran in which he found Yura Movsisyan who earned a great look at the goal from some great individual effort and with just the keeper in his way  he put RSL up 2-0 and Yura had a timely goal to open up his 2016 account. RSL's tough play was incredible to watch but the pressure was too much when in the 79th minute the ball was in the box for too long and Adi was able to pull one back for Portland. Portland then threw the kitchen sink at Real Salt Lake for the last ten minutes of the game. RSL started to lose their composure and Jamison Olave was shown red for throwing an arm to Adi's face. Portalnd was awarded a penalty and Adi tied the game in the 84th minute. In the 89th minute, Portland looked like they had the go ahead goal when Jack McInerney had only Rimando between him and the goal but Rimando came up with and incredibly difficult save to keep things level. RSL held on and earned a point on the road after some unnecessary red cards with a final score of 2-2.