Real Salt Lake blown out by Portland Timbers in 6-1 rout

Real Salt Lake took an absolute beating in Portland tonight as the Timbers cruised to a 6-1 victory, leaving RSL in seventh place and the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. Pablo Mastroeni’s defense just couldn’t cut it tonight as the Timbers spent the evening catching RSL sleeping on dangerous counters and slipping past defenders with ease.

The Timbers opened the scoring in the 27th minute when a turnover from beyond midfield turned into a quick counter. It began with Diego Chara making an interception and sending a good ball over to Sebastian Blanco who was streaking toward goal. He threaded a ball over to Felipe Mora who had plenty of space and sent the ball in past David Ochoa, giving the home side the lead midway through the first half.

Portland doubled their lead less than 10 minutes later as a long free kick found its way to Dairon Asprilla near the goal. He was able to out jump Toni Datkovic and head the ball to the far post, past Ochoa giving the Timbers a comfortable 2-0 lead before the halftime break.

RSL pulled one back shortly after, capitalizing on some confusion in the penalty box when Pablo Ruiz’s ball was headed backwards by a Portland defender. Justin Meram tried to kick it in but was unsuccessful, and a waiting Damir Kreilach collected the ball and slipped it in past Timbers keeper Steve Clark for his 11th goal on the season.

The Timbers wasted no time increasing their lead again after halftime, as Yimmi Chara netted the third goal for Portland off another assist from Sebastian Blanco. Chara sent the ball high into the back of the net and out of Ochoa’s reach.

The Chara brothers teamed up for the Timbers’ next goal, as Blanco grabbed the ball in their defensive third and sent it up to Yimmi Chara who sped through the midfield. He found his older brother Diego Chara coming down the right side completely unmarked, so he sent the ball to him and Diego sent it flying in from outside the box and into the back of the net. It was Portland’s fourth of the night and Diego Chara’s first goal on the season.

Portland was handing out the goals tonight as substitute Jaroslaw Niezgoda grabbed a fifth for the Timbers as he collected a loose ball right in front of the net and sent it in between two RSL defenders to increase the lead to 5-1.

The Timbers weren’t done as Christhian Paredes added a sixth goal from the right side, taking David Ochoa’s night from bad to miserable. That would be the final nail in the coffin for the visitors, sending them home with zero points and a devastating 6-1 loss.