RSL falls short to Portland Timbers 1-0 on the road

A lackluster performance saw RSL drop three points on the road at Providence Park tonight while the Timbers won by a score of 1-0 thanks to the lone goal from Fanendo Adi.

RSL started off the game with a great look at goal when a deflection directly after kickoff saw Yura Movsisyan and Jordan Allen on the attack, although it didn’t end up in our favor. The ball quickly went into some back and forth play between the two sides with no notable chances from either team.

That didn’t last long though, as the scoring opened in the 12^th minute with a goal from Portland striker Fanendo Adi.

Darlington Nagbe let a shot rip from outside the 18 yard box that took a deflection, but ended up falling to Adi’s feet who was able to cut the opposite way past Justen Glad and slot it just past Nick Rimando, which put the Timbers up 1-0.

Portland had another great look in the 22^nd minute when Alvas Powell beat Demar Phillips on the right wing and launched a left-footed shot that looked good, but sailed just past the post and Rimando’s outstretched hand.

With referee Drew Fischer making many 50-50 calls in Portland’s favor, the first half ended in the 1-0 scoreline, with RSL managing to get only one shot on frame.

Jeff Cassar saw the need for attacking urgency and brought on the maestro Javier Morales at the beginning of the second half for Allen.

In the 64^th minute, RSL would see their next best chance when they won a free kick just outside of the 18 when Burrito was pulled down by Diego Valeri after Morales tested Portland ‘keeper Jake Gleeson with a rocket of a shot on goal. Javi took the free kick and it went just high and wide of the goal but wasn’t too far off the mark.

Rimando had a huge save in the 74^th minute when Valeri found himself wide open in front of goal, but was unable to get it past the Wall of the Wasatch.

Morales came off in the 75^th minute with an apparent quad injury which saw Olmes Garcia come onto the pitch to tally his first minutes since the game against Colorado on August 26^th.

RSL had a free kick goal called back in the 86^th minute while the ref seemed to not pay attention to the quick restart and didn’t allow the goal to stand. The retaken free kick was parried away by Gleeson.

RSL ended up with 56% possession and trailed Portland in shots 14-11.

With this result, Portland secures three big points and gives themselves a little breathing room sitting at 38 points -- four points above the red line while Vancouver trails in seventh place with 34 points.

RSL drops to third place in the west after Colorado defeated FC Dallas tonight to jump into second place with 46 points.

Real Salt Lake hosts the Houston Dynamo on September 17^th while the Timbers play host to the Philadelphia Union in their next match.