3 goals later, the Timbers now look to deliver in playoffs
One Portland coach got sound sleep this week.
PORTLAND — One Portland coach got sound sleep this week.
Who on Wednesday had their money on Phil Neville?
Neville’s Timbers were playing in a wild card game they didn’t want to be in, had won a single match since July 25 with an MIA offense, and left the pitch on Saturday after a 4–0 loss at home to San Diego in the rain to expletive-filled chants from the home supporters.
Neville told fans to blame him. And over the next few days, they did, with the Timbers’ Reddit page littered with posts calling for the second-year manager’s sacking.
Neville understood that anger. All season, the Timbers were in playoff position, then suddenly the supporters were facing yet another wild card match just to get in — a year after the Timbers fell 5–0 to Vancouver in the same situation.
Neville called Saturday a kick to the backside — not just for him and the players, but for the entire organization. And when the Timbers returned to the facility to prepare for Wednesday’s play-in against Real Salt Lake, Neville said he saw the benefits of a shock to the system.
“We came together on Sunday, and the focus and concentration on Monday and Tuesday meant that I slept for nine hours last night,” Neville said on Wednesday, “and then three hours this afternoon because I was so confident.”
Neville and his club might have been the only ones in the city sharing the confidence at kickoff on Wednesday, as a far-from-full Providence Park hosted on the same night the Blazers tipped off the NBA season across the river.
The next morning, one of those teams’ coaches was in handcuffs. The other was Neville, who likely got another sound sleep after one of Portland’s best performances of the year.
The Timbers won 3–1. They scored two goals early, got an insurance goal when they needed one and, unlike they’ve done for much of the year, put the clamps on late to clinch the win.
Felipe Mora scored his first two goals since May — with the 32-year-old forward unleashing pent-up frustration after his 24th-minute rebound by jumping over the ad boards and running straight to the Timbers Army to celebrate.
Mora’s wife had given birth to their daughter, Eleanor, just days earlier, and the stands were filled with his parents, friends and other family members visiting Portland to help out.
“It’s been a while and I’ve been looking for it,” Mora said of his first goal. “But I knew the most important games are coming up. I stayed calm, and now I’m just happy for the club and the fans we’re back in the playoffs.”
Mora was the star, but the Timbers also saw a stellar effort from James Pantemis in net. Designated player David Da Costa had his most impactful performance in months, Jimmer Fory returned to anchor the back line, and the 39-year-old Diego Chara played the entire match.
“I thought Diego Chara played like a man possessed,” Neville said. “We thought after Saturday’s game we needed men on the pitch. We thought we needed experience. And with Chara and Felipe Mora, I think those players really delivered.”
So did Kamal Miller, who scored the final goal of the match in the 82nd to send the crowd into a tizzy. After a year together at Miami, Miller was one of the first additions of the Neville era and has been there throughout the roller coaster of the coach’s Portland tenure.
After what happened on Saturday, Miller said Wednesday was on the players.
“I think we owe it to [Neville], and we owe it to our coaching staff, who work hard with us week in and week out,” Miller said. “They could be home with their families, but they’re always at the facility ready for whoever needs extra work, and they put in just the same amount of work as we do. We owe it to them.”
All the Timbers could be home with their families today. Instead, they’re on to San Diego to appear in the first round of the MLS playoffs for the first time since 2021.
The Timbers lost and drew to San Diego this season and are quite the underdog when matched up against the Western Conference’s top seed.
But Neville is confident. And while that hasn’t always been rewarded the last two seasons, the Timbers showed on Wednesday it can be.
And when it was, it looked pretty good.
“We’ve got to go into the playoffs and deliver,” Neville said. “You look at our performance tonight, I’ve got a team that can deliver on the big occasion. That gives me real confidence for the next, hopefully two — maybe three — games.”
— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor