The Portland Timbers already landed their ticket to the MLS Cup playoffs, but now they have their sights set on a No 1 finish in the Western Conference
With a 1-0 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday night, the Timbers took first place in the West for the first time with a week left in the regular season
Yimmi Chara broke a deadlock with a sensational volley in the 61st minute Jorge Villafaña returned the ball to Chara in the box, and Chara executed a side-sweeping point strike to shoot goalkeeper Evan Bush
The Timbers (11-5-5, 38 points) now have the most points in the West, eventually overtaking the Seattle Sounders after tied weeks, but MLS changed the criteria to a points average per game, which the Woods lead West to 181
Coach Giovanni Savarese was not ready to celebrate the jump to first place, saying the Timbers need to stay focused on the final week of games ahead to complete the job
« It’s a good game, winning three points and now for us to be at the top of the table, but we know we have two more games left, » said Savarese « We have to stay focused on the game important to play these two matches which will be difficult «
Yimmi Chará on the fly 🔥 The buildup of that perfectly executed @TimbersFC goal to strike first #PORvVAN picTwittercom / Y1ej436dG7
The victory was marred by a late injury to Jaroslaw Niezgoda, who landed awkwardly while trying to win a ball in the sixth minute of stoppage time A visibly grimacing Niezgoda was stretched off the pitch and into the dressing room
Asked for an update on the designated player, Savarese hinted that the Timbers may have to enter the playoffs without one of their most effective scorers
« Not well We’ll see », he said « We’ll find out more later, but for now it’s not very positive »
One of the Timbers’ best forwards, Sebastian Blanco, suffered a late season injury in September in a win over the Seattle Sounders
For a Timbers team that beat almost every other team in the league, Sunday was a surprisingly close affair against the Whitecaps, the scoreless game before Yimmi Chara’s second half goal
The Timbers’ best chance of the first half came in the 14th minute from center-back Larrys Mabiala Right-back Pablo Bonilla sent a ball into the box which Mabiala hit with the volley, forcing a save in bush dive
« In the first half it was a bit difficult to find the ball going vertically, » said Savarese « We played more side to side But then in the second half we were able to be a little more direct through the lines and get them into trouble »
The Timbers were once again missed by their co-top scorer, forward Jeremy Ebobisse, who has been out since suffering a concussion at LAFC in October 18
But the Timbers have a lot of goal scorers because the only MLS team with more than two players who have scored at least seven goals The Timbers have four players who have reached this mark: Ebobisse, Diego Valeri, Felipe Mora and Niezgoda
Coming in on Sunday, the Timbers led the league in the penalty shootout conversion (192%) The Timbers lead the league in goals scored at 45 after Sunday’s result
Losing Niezgoda could be a factor in the Timbers’ chances of winning a second MLS Cup, but the Timbers have banked on depth and significant player turnover all year due to the compressed schedule caused by the pandemic COVID-19 Villafaña said players will continue to trust this depth
« He’s a really important player for us and I hope that’s good news, » Villafaña said of Niezgoda’s injury « But we have players who can also do the job Any player who is going to be called up and be on top is going to play They have played, all the players who have had the opportunity to start, and even the players who have left the bench »
The Whitecaps, meanwhile, have struggled in both offense and defense Vancouver’s 413% average possession this season is the lowest in MLS, and they’re also bottom of the league in shots taken, an average of eight per game The Whitecaps average 17 shots conceded per game, the most in the league
MLS announced on Saturday that the league will change the way playoff spots are awarded, using each team’s points per game average instead of overall points The Timbers have always clinched their playoff spot, even with the abrupt format change, after their win on Wednesday against the LA Galaxy
The league’s decision came as several teams are on track to end the season without playing their full 23-game schedule due to the COVID-19 outbreaks
Colorado Rapids missed five games due to multiple players and staff testing positive for the virus The games can’t be made up because MLS apparently wouldn’t want teams to play regular season games after the last one scheduled day of regular season, November 8
LAFC are the last team to be sidelined with the virus after several positives, and their scheduled Sunday game has been called off The Timbers are scheduled to play at LAFC on November 8
In August, MLS commissioner Don Garber acknowledged that teams would likely suffer disruption from the coronavirus and that the league faces « a lot of competitive balance issues » because of it. disqualify the teams that allowed the COVID-19 outbreaks to derail their season, Garber said it may be necessary to move to a points-per-game standings
With the playoffs stuck, the Timbers are technically still in contention for the Supporters Shield, which goes to the best team in the regular season.This award will also be based on points per game this year, and the Philadelphia Union and the Toronto FC lead the pack
Next, the Timbers host the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday without fans MLS Cup playoffs start November 20
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Portland Timbers, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, MLS, Playoffs, Yimmi Chará
World News – USA – Portland Timbers wins No 1 in the West after beating the Whitecaps in Vancouver with a week to play in the MLS regular season
