Back on the road again. This time, it was a flight out to Portland.
If there is one thing I really like about Portland, it’s their public transportation. You can easily get from the airport to the city center on their light rail in about 45 minutes. This trip wasn’t just a spur-of-the-moment decision to try to see SDFC play against the Portland Timbers, either. I needed a suit for my sister’s wedding, which will take place next month back in Portland. So, I figured it would be a good time to get fitted so that I have a suit ready for me when I return. It was also a good excuse to make my way to Wayfinder and have a beer with a pulled pork sandwich. Once the errands were done, it was finally time to check into the hotel and head over to Providence Park for the match.
The hotel I picked out was a 10-minute walk to Providence Park. Portland is pretty warm this time of year, and it felt like I brought the San Diego weather out to the Pacific Northwest. The last time I was at Providence Park was for Decision Day—a cold, rainy night that saw San Diego come out on top of the Timbers in a 4-0 victory. The vibes were good that day. This time, we were looking at a midweek matchup. Not a lot of people made the trip out to Portland, which is understandable. The supporters’ section was not requested by Frontera SD for a Wednesday night matchup. As I walked into the stadium, I saw some Chrome and Azul here and there, but it was mostly a sea of Timbers Green. I decided to sit where I bought my ticket; for $27, it was a great seat right at midfield in Section 219.
Before sitting down, I had already seen the lineup. It was going to be a rotated group from what we saw on Saturday. There was no Anders Dreyer, as he was serving a red card suspension. Instead, Alex Mighten took his place. Lewis Morgan and Marcus Ingvartsen remained in the starting lineup on the front line. The midfield saw Jeppe Tverskov and Onni Valakari back in the starting XI after both players came off the bench on Saturday. Gabriel Pirani received a consecutive start in midfield.
The backline looked slightly different. Manu Duah and Ian Murphy started a consecutive match together as center backs. Dagur Dan Thorhallsson was starting at right back, with Kieran Sargeant at left back. Oscar Verhoeven and Luca Bombino played a heck of a match on Saturday, and it might have taken too much of a toll on them to start a second consecutive match in a short week. However, there was potential to see both coming off the bench.
Sitting in the stands among the home supporters was a little different for an away match. I’m usually fairly close to the away supporters’ section, but this time, my seat was squarely at midfield. It gave me a great view of all the action. It was going to be interesting to see who would step up in Dreyer’s absence.
San Diego kicked off to get the match underway. Within the first few minutes, it looked like the man stepping up would be Gabriel Pirani. He took a shot from outside the penalty area that was saved by goalkeeper James Pantemis. Minutes later, Lewis Morgan took a shot from just inside the penalty area, but again, it was easily saved by Pantemis. It was good to see early shots from players looking to make an impact.
However, Dreyer’s absence was felt. While San Diego created early chances by recovering turnovers centrally and on the right side where Mighten was playing, they couldn’t capitalize. Then came a costly turnover on the right side as San Diego played the ball across the pitch. Alex Mighten tried to dribble into the penalty area, completely lost the ball, and fell to the ground.
The ball was recovered by Jimer Fory, who quickly passed it out to Kristoffer Velde on the far side. Velde dribbled to midfield and dumped a pass off to Cole Bassett. Bassett passed it back to Velde, who was now on the near side.
If we freeze frame here, Velde had several white San Diego shirts in front of him. Tverskov didn’t close down quickly enough, Ian Murphy was standing right in Velde’s path, and Manu Duah and Kieran Sargeant were nearby. None of them closed the gap. Instead, Velde had plenty of time to load up and strike from 5 yards outside the penalty area. The shot had real pace on it, making it a difficult ball for CJ Dos Santos to stop as it hit the back of the net. The Timbers fans celebrated loudly, and their lumberjack revved the chainsaw to cut a log slice—a Timbers tradition for every goal scored. It was frustrating that no one closed down on Velde, giving him all the time he needed. SDFC was down 1-0.
A couple of minutes later, it looked like the Timbers were going to double their lead. The Timbers’ forwards pressed high all night, and playing out from the back is San Diego’s style. When the ball was played back to CJ Dos Santos, Kevin Kelsy pressed him into near disaster. Kelsy got a foot on the ball inside the six-yard box, but Dos Santos was able to recover with his hands and reset. It was a scary moment for Dos Santos and all of SDFC.
Heading into the 43rd minute, it looked like San Diego would finally equalize. Thorhallsson dispossessed Velde on the far side and dribbled the ball all the way into the final third. Thorhallsson chipped a pass over to Morgan, who laid it off centrally to Pirani just outside the box. Pirani took a shot that dragged just wide of the far post.
That chance gave Pirani confidence, leading to another opportunity in first-half stoppage time. The buildup actually started in the 45th minute. San Diego earned a throw-in on their side of the pitch and never relinquished possession. SDFC wore down the Timbers by recycling the ball over and over—moving toward the penalty area, then cycling back to restart at midfield. A major recovery happened after Mighten’s cross sailed over everyone’s head; Kieran Sargeant beat a Timbers player to the ball and passed centrally to Jeppe Tverskov. After a series of passes, the ball found Onni Valakari at the edge of the box. Valakari slipped a pass into the penalty area to Lewis Morgan, who quickly laid it off to a surging Pirani. Pirani cut back and hit a right-footed low roller toward the near post, beating a diving Pantemis. The match was tied 1-1 on a goal where virtually everyone was involved.
In the first half, San Diego held 74% possession, took 10 shots with three on target, and logged 23 touches in the opposition’s box. Portland was willing to allow shots; it was just a matter of getting the ball past Pantemis. The Timbers have allowed a high volume of shots all season, and San Diego needed to continue testing them to win.
At halftime, I wandered around the stadium and ran into the legendary Sonny Phono and his wife, Toni. I used to hear Sonny’s name on the Darren Smith Show back in the Mighty 1090 days. After our halftime meetup, we found a section to catch the rest of the match together.
To be honest, I was at the concession stand and missed the second-half kickoff and Portland’s go-ahead goal. But rewatching the match, Portland recovered a loose ball that Ingvartsen couldn’t control. Kamal Miller won the ball and passed it to Velde a few yards from the penalty area. Velde sent a through pass to Fory running into the box, and Fory centered it to Ariel Lassiter, who slid to kick it home for Portland’s second goal. Another log slice for the chainsaw. It was another defensive breakdown, as Thorhallsson failed to track Fory’s run into the penalty area—a mental lapse from one of the summer’s newest additions.
We settled into Section 223, the away supporters’ section, and found other San Diego fans. Shortly after the second goal, we watched Cole Bassett hit the post and Kevin Kelsy fire over the crossbar. We noticed players warming up in the 58th minute: Alejandro Alvarado replaced Onni Valakari, and Elias Achouri came on for Alex Mighten.
Achouri’s presence was felt right away. In the 59th minute, as Brandon Bye tried to defend him, Achouri pulled off a sharp crossover dribble that completely cooked Bye, resulting in what appeared to be a serious injury. I’ve never seen someone break their ankles live in person, but it looked severe—all caused by Achouri’s high-level footwork. In the 62nd minute, Eric Miller had to replace Bye.
In the 68th minute, the Timbers hit another golazo from outside the box, this time from David da Costa. I had a great view of it—the pocket of space da Costa found, the flight path of the strike, and the upper right corner where it hit the net. I saw it all unfold and knew that was it for San Diego.
The rest of the match was spent reminiscing with Sonny about San Diego sports. He shared stories about catching games at old Candlestick Park in the Bay Area—a venue where I would have loved to see the Padres and Giants play. He talked about how listening to sports talk radio kept him connected to home, just as it did for me when I moved away for college. Now, Sonny and his wife have a new San Diego team to follow in San Diego FC. Even though their first SDFC match ended in a 3-1 loss, they’ll be following the club and coming back for more games. Sonny is a DJ who has played at Bluefoot, one of our local footy bars; hopefully, he can DJ one of the SDFC post-match parties at Snapdragon someday. Talking to Sonny and Toni in Section 223 was the best part of the match. I also ran into some Chavos on the way out who had made the trip up from San Diego. Having supporters willing to travel wherever the team goes is the best part of having a new club to follow.
The second-half stats showed 66% possession for San Diego with 11 shots and 3 on target. However, Portland did far more damage with fewer total shots and the same number on target. The Timbers capitalized on the mistakes of a team still learning to play together in the second half of the season. Luca Bombino and Oscar Verhoeven came on after the 75th minute. Could they have made the difference in preventing those defensive lapses? Maybe. But the underlying issue was that San Diego failed to score in the second half.
Pirani looked like SDFC’s best player of the night, taking the initiative to shoot in ways Valakari hadn’t. Morgan looked as sharp as ever. Once Achouri settles in, Morgan can slide into an impactful role off the bench to provide quality depth. What fans need to see next is all of the best players on the field together. We haven’t seen this group at its peak yet, and Achouri will be a major factor once he enters the starting XI.
A real rivalry is brewing between Portland and San Diego. The overall regular season and playoff record between the two sits at 3-2-2 (with one draw technically resulting in a penalty shootout victory for Portland). It’s an evenly matched rivalry. As I mentioned last time, this matchup deserves a beer-centric name. San Diego and Portland are two of the best craft beer cities in the country, and both matches I’ve attended felt like drinking an IPA. Last October on Decision Day, that 4-0 victory tasted like a juicy, sweet Hazy IPA. This 3-1 loss left a bitter taste in my mouth, reminiscent of drinking a heavy, bitter Green Flash Palate Wrecker back in the day. I’d love to see both local beer guilds get involved to turn this into a formal rivalry trophy along the lines of Hell is Real or El Tráfico. Whether it becomes the “IPA Cup” or the “Battle for the Beers,” the groundwork is there.
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