With one player ending a long scoreless streak and another scoring the first goal of what could be many in his career, the Portland Timbers are off to the MLS Cup final for the third time in their 11-year history in the league.
Felipe Mora, the Timbers’ leading scorer this season with 11, broke a nine-game streak without a goal in the fifth minute Saturday, then 21-year-old Santiago Moreno added his first MLS goal in the second half, pacing Portland to a 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference final in front of a sellout crowd of 25,218 at Providence Park.
The Timbers, who had dipped out of playoff position to ninth place in the West in late August, have come all the way back to host the championship game for the first time next Saturday at noon. They’ll face the winner of Sunday’s Eastern Conference final between the Philadelphia Union and New York City FC.
“It was a special night tonight,” Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese said. “This team works so hard, the players, the staff, everyone. The guys were able to turn things around and host this game here.”
Despite finishing fourth in the Western Conference during the regular season, Portland posted a better record than all Eastern Conference teams other than New England, which was upset by New York City in the conference semifinals. That allows the Timbers to be the home team in the final.
On the final day of the regular season, Portland played its top lineup to defeat Austin 3-0, which allowed them to jump ahead of Philadelphia and New York in the final standings.
“To be able to host MLS Cup, it’s a dream come to a reality,” Savarese said. “It’s not only an event for Providence Park but for the city of Portland.
“It’s a dream not only for this year, but for any coach you always have a thought in which you hope you can host at home. That dream is a reality because of all the hard work everyone has put in this year and over the years I’ve been here.”
Portland won the title on the road against the Columbus Crew in 2015, then lost in its second appearance in the final in Atlanta in 2018. The Timbers also won the MLS Is Back tournament during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
“We’ve been able to bring the right players to create a strong culture,” Savarese said of his team’s success in a tournament format. “We enjoy being around each other when we come to work, and it really feels as if we are a family.”
The Timbers went 3-0 in the regular season against RSL, outscoring them 12-4 in those games, including a 6-1 win in their last meeting in Portland on Sept. 25. That was when Mora scored the last of his 11 goals before Saturday.
With Sebastian Blanco dealing with a left hamstring injury and Dairon Asprilla suspended for a red card in the conference semifinal, the Timbers were missing two of their premier offensive players and needed Mora to find his offensive touch again, which he did in the fifth minute.
Mora played a give-and-go with Yimmi Chara, whose return pass pinballed off two defenders and right back into the path of a streaking Mora, who got just enough on his first touch to elude diving RSL goalkeeper David Ochoa inside the left post.
“We were good with the ball, ambitious going forward and ready to react to the things RSL wanted to throw at us,” Savarese said about the team’s early push. “The guys executed very well, but you need some moments to capitalize and Mora did that.”
Moreno and Marvin Loria stepped into their roles seamlessly, and allowed Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese to keep Blanco, who could have played if needed, resting on the bench.
After coming close to giving the Timbers a second goal in the first half, Moreno finally broke through in the 61st minute, using his speed and touch to carve out space in the middle of the field and launching a shot from 25 yards that hit the left post, then bounced off the back of Ochoa and into the net.
“What a good performance from both of them, but also from everyone,” Savarese said of the two new starters. “Seba (Blanco) and Asprilla are two important players for us that make us a better team, but we had no doubt that whoever we put in the game would give everything for the group.”
Moreno nearly put Portland up 2-0 in the 31st minute, but his rebound shot went over the crossbar. Two minutes later, RSL got their only high-quality chance of the half when Damir Kreilach had a free header from the edge of the six-yard box but struck the ball directly at Timbers keeper Steve Clark, who still needed to react quickly to fend off the attempt.
Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri, the club’s all-time leading scorer, came on the 80th minute to replace Loria, earning a huge ovation from the home crowd. With Valeri mostly coming off the bench this season, there have been reports that this might be his last season with the Timbers.
RSL’s Aaron Herrera earned his second yellow card of the match in the 79th minute, leaving them to play the final minutes with 10 players. Still, they generated a good scoring chance in the 86th minute with a header that Clark covered for his third save.
RSL had been the underdog story of the MLS playoffs, qualifying in the seventh and final spot and upsetting heavily favored Seattle and Kansas City in the previous two rounds.
-- Scott Sepich for The Oregonian/OregonLive
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