Coming off season's best win, Timbers look to end road woes

"We’re going to be playing a lot of our games away from home."

PORTLAND — I didn’t know exactly what Phil Neville was saying, but the Portland Timbers manager was also trying to answer a question without one.

Neville had made it to the final question of his press conference following Portland’s 4-2 win over the LA Galaxy on Wednesday. And to that point, Neville had talked about the thrilling play of his star forwards — Evander, Jonathan Rodriguez and Felipe Mora became the first trio in MLS history to score 14 or more goals apiece in the same season — the determination of his late subs like Antony and Eryk Williamson, and Kamal Miller’s “brilliance” defending against one of the top attacks in the league. It was one of Portland’s best performances of the year, and came at a time when the club desperately needed the three points to keep its seat for the playoffs.

But to finish, Neville was asked a question in Spanish about what’s coming next. Of the team’s five matches remaining, three of them are on the road — beginning with Real Salt Lake on Saturday in Utah.

Portland (12-10-7, 43 points) hasn’t lost at Providence Park since May. It hasn’t won away from it since June.

The Portland manager paused to clarify the question in English.

“Why do we play differently at home than on the road?” Neville asked.

The reporter nodded.

Neville gave a half-smile, half-grimace.

“I didn’t want to understand that one,” he said with a laugh. “Es una pregunta fenomenal.”