And perhaps even Didier Drogba on the way. Dos Santos and Torres are starry Mexicans. “He assisted me, and I just had to finish”.
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Portland went up 1-0 in the 34th minute when Fanendo Adi fed Valeri, who slotted it past Vancouver goalkeeper David Ousted.
Matías Laba scored on a screamer from distance in the second half to help the Vancouver Whitecaps earn a single point with a 1-1 tie against the Timbers. Throughout the course of the match one could easily notice how physical and chippy both sides were playing. The WFC2-bred pairing passed that examination of sorts with flying colours, with Dean exhibiting the leadership and technical qualities that the club were so enthused about before drafting him from the California Golden Bears in Pac-12. “We go there on the back of a couple decent results so we should be full of confidence”.
Vancouver coach Carl Robinson sparked his team with a pep talk at the half.
Inevitably, there are games in Major League Soccer when a squad’s depth is tested.
“He needs to improve some things, his stepping and dropping needs to be better… but he’s got a huge upside”.
The play of the centre back pairing of rookie Tim Parker and sophomore Christian Dean sticks out as particularly impressive.
Patience is a valuable yet oftentimes rare asset in soccer, and Christian Dean’s display against the Timbers is testament to the benefits that having such professionalism can yield.
“It was probably a fair result”, Timbers coach Caleb Porter said. We missed 4 or 5 possibilities nevertheless it occurs typically. 537 of the possession, took 14 shots and put three balls on frame.
Portland Timbers forward Darlington Nagbe, top, leaps over Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Gershon Koffie as he chases the ball during the first half of an MLS soccer game in Portland, Ore., Saturday, July 18, 2015. Jordan Harvey was dismissed for a late challenge in stoppage time, and Canadian Will Johnson, who captains Portland, ended up getting a red card for receiving two separate yellows in a post-match argument with the referee. Porter and Wilkinson were unable to say when Melano would actually join the team, but it would be a surprise if we did not see him in Timbers uniform by the next home match on August 7 against Chicago. The second half we play better and they get a goal. Robinson likes the way his you centre-backs handled a tough situation in what was a challenging task.
With Kah and midfield maestro Pedro Morales injured and centre back Kendall Waston on global duty, Robinson started seven players 23 or younger on Saturday. Russell Teibert might have replaced him in Portland, but Teibert wasn’t feeling great. And it’s worked so far. The Whitecaps are tied with Sporting Kansas City for third place in the Western Conference standings, one point back of the LA Galaxy.
It was Valeri’s second goal in nine games this season after rehabbing from offseason knee surgery, then an ankle injury following his return. “We bent, but we didn’t break”.
“Coming here and creating that number of chances is a feat in itself, but we need to be more clinical now”.
“Anytime I’m making plays like that, we did something wrong”, Borchers said. Nat Borchers slid to deflect another Manneh attempt in the 23rd.
Melano becomes Portland’s fifth Argentine player, and second Argentine DP after Diego Valeri.
The Whitecaps (9-8-3, 33 points) looked as though they were going to draw first blood in the 16th minute when striker Kekuta Manneh went into the box with only goalkeeper Adam Larsen Kwarasey to beat.
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The Timbers picked up the pace again, but Vancouver matched them. “I look forward and I didn’t have an option for pass, so I decide to shoot”, said Laba, who raced over in front of the Caps’ supporters to celebrate.
