By Niall McCusker

The first half of this game was a tale of two corners, neither side created much else of note. Adi and Urruti played a little more like a unit but it looked like something was still missing from the Timbers attack.

In the second half, while not enjoying the possession advantage they had against Vancouver, they did vary the means of attack much better. The crosses came in, but more selectively, and some nice flicks over the central defenders to wingers cutting inside showed invention. But mostly the dribbling of Nagbe remained the Timbers most dangerous weapon.

He created their go-ahead goal from Urruti and despite some dangerous Dallas set-pieces, the Timbers held out and clinched the game with a good counter-attacking goal from Chara.

Quote of the Day:

“I think he’s suffering many fouls. That is part of the game, but somehow the referees in the league will find a way to control that too. Because we can see every game, they’re coming against him more and more.”

* Which coach about which player? – answer below.

Here are the individual ratings:

Adam Larsen Kwarasey 7: Last week I wondered when the heroic saves were going to start, well he got one in this game, keeping out a bouncing header with a last ditch flick onto the crossbar to keep Portland in front with five minutes to go. The only problem was that this save happened because he gave Michel a second chance by punching his corner right back to his foot. Also the ball he punched out for the corner that Dallas scored from looked like a catch for most keepers, even those trained in the modern ‘punch-first’ school of goal-keeping. He gets the benefit of the doubt this week.

I miss keepers actually catching the ball, or even executing the one-handed catch in the style of Pat Jennings.

Alvas Powell 7.5: having scared Castillo off the left wing in their encounter at the end of last season he had had a lot of freedom to attack, but he was more selective than last week in when to cross the ball. His penetration to the end-line earned a couple of corners, including the one the Timbers scored from. A nice flick over the central defenders to Urruti at the start of the second half showed another variation to his offense.

He didn’t forget the defensive side either, recovering to dispossess opponents and block crosses, a fine outing.

Liam Ridgewell 7.5: Caught a nasty elbow to the nose after fifteen minutes, which should have been a red card, he was down for four and half minutes and took another couple of minutes to get patched up on sideline. When he came back into the game he wisely saved his anger for the referee not his opponent. Picked up a yellow in the second half for dissent, he will probably learn soon that attempting to educate MLS referees is a futile exercise.

When a winger cuts back is about one of the few times in modern soccer when you can actively push up looking to trap opponents offside, he lead his line out slightly for a case like this in the 68th minute, such are the small tricks of the trade they can pick up from him.

Nat Borchers 8: if the confusion between him and Ridgewell for Vancouver’s late goal made last week’s game one to forget, his first goal for Portland made this one to remember. Speaking of forgetting it is still puzzling how Dallas completely forgot to spot a red-bearded giant lurking on the six yard line. He had time to reminisce about his days beyond the wall slaying crows before cooling heading the ball into the net.

Also found the time to make plenty of headed clearances from his box in keeping Dallas set-piece damage to only one goal (which is not that bad, they are excellent at them). His only misstep of the match was getting pulled out of position slightly in the first half to allow Akindele* a shot over goal.

* 2013 rookie of the year and graduate of the Colorado School of Mines!

Jorge Villafana 8: when the opponents think you are the weak link in defense and move their most dangerous player (Castillo) across to target you there are two responses. One: soil your compression shorts. Two: completely shut that player down and be the prostamerika.com man of the match. Villafana wisely chose the second option, getting in six tackles and finding time to get forward and earn a few dangerous fouls and swing in the corner for Borcher’s goal.

This converted winger always had good crosses but is really starting to come into own on the defensive side. My only quibble about him remains in the air, Zach Loyd used him as a launching pad for the late header that Kwarasey saved. Yes, it was most definitely a foul, but Lloyd is no bigger than him, he needs someone to coach him on making his move on the attacker first.

George Fochive (off in 93′) 6: had looked very solid in his previous two starts but made a few mistakes in this game. A couple of giveaways in dangerous places, Powell bailed him out with a good recovery tackle in the 7th minute. Generally very good in the air, but a missed header in the first half (along with Borcher’s one) allowed Akindele’s shot. He filled in for two minutes at center back while Ridgewell was getting treatment and made a good tackle in during his stint.

A solid enough outing, but still has a bit to learn about his position, he need look no further than his partner Diego Chara to see a master at work.

Diego Chara 8: when Powell is having fun up-field, Chara quietly fills that right-back slot preventing counter-attacks, see his tracking of Castillo in the 83rd minute. He was also instrumental in several good Portland counters, culminating in his excellent goal. He won the ball, took a quick look around to assess the situation and set-off sprinting, his cool pass into the net with his left suggested a player who finds the net with regularity.

But after his two birthday goals against Seattle last season led to no more all year fans are unlikely to be fooled again.

Darlington Nagbe 8: there’s a large hole in Portland’s line-up this year – why yes, it is shaped a bit like Diego Valeri. Most assumed it would filled by Gaston Fernandez, but Porter does not seem to fancy that option. In keeping his 4231 formation for the first three games he had Nagbe in there, but he likes to wander and go deep to carry the ball forward. Even in the 442 system, deployed for the last 2 games, having one of the central midfielders push up a little, or having Urruti drop back could fill the void.

But the void has it’s purpose, with two strikers playing, once Nagbe has beaten the midfield there is no defender free to step to him. So the 4 or 5 times Nagbe got free the attack looked dangerous, he advanced to edge of the penalty area and in the best example released Asprilla for his low dangerous cross that got finished by Urruti.

Involved in four of Portland’s five goals from play this year, if his penetration remains this dangerous, no one will remember that his only shot was closer to the corner flag than the far post.

Rodney Wallace (off on 61′) 5.5: struggled to get into the game and early in the second half a couple of turnovers and an errant shot had Porter deciding that he was the man to make way for Asprilla. The arrival of Yartley at Timbers training this week means the starting wingers will have to step up their game.

Maxi Urruti 7: nice finish for his goal (if perhaps lucky not to be flagged offside?) and did plenty of work getting back to hassle the Dallas defenders and midfield. When you have the same number of recoveries as Diego Chara (4) you know you are putting the effort in.

He and Adi linked a bit better and even passed to each other once or twice, but they still need to work the kinks out of this new system. Mis-controlled a nice cross from Nagbe at the start of the second half but much improved from his last game in Vancouver.

Fanendo Adi 7 (off 81′): closely marked by Hedges he got one decent shot on target in the first half, but really came into his own in the last half-hour after Portland took a 2-1 lead. Dallas pushed the home team back a little and Adi began to drop deeper too, providing a valuable outlet (in the void that was previously left for Nagbe). He also helped keep Dallas’ set-piece play at bay, clearing four out of his box.

His assist on the last goal didn’t get the notice it deserved after the game, Chara did heavy lifting, winning the tackle and providing the finish, but Adi’s ball was weighted perfectly for him to chase down. If someone like Valeri had played it, he would have got all the credit for the goal. Such is life for a burly center forward.

Dairon Asprilla (on in 61′) 7: he is the coaches favorite at training this week, off the bench and providing an assist within one minute makes Porter look like a genius. A few minutes later he beat two men with a fancy turn on the right, Dallas had to respect his speed as they sought to equalize and he kept their defense honest. Two good showings off the bench has some clamoring for a return to the starting eleven, but I think he’s most valuable off the bench for now.

Jack Jewsbury (on in 81′): not really on long enough for a proper rating, Opta records him as having two passes. This was an unusual substitution and because of the ending score mostly forgotten (though I suspect not by Gaston Fernandez). It looked like Portland shifted to a formation resembling a 4141 and if Dallas had equalized I suspect this substitution would have inspired a lot more conversation. “Why did we go so defensive?” etc. But they added another goal and won the game, so Porter wins this argument.

Gaston Fernandez (on in 93′): probably a little frustrated right now, even with Valeri out he still can’t get meaningful minutes. His salary is not an insignificant portion of the cap and it is a long season, but one wonders why Portland kept him around if they’re not going use him.

* If you thought the quote above was Caleb Porter talking about Nagbe you’d be wrong, it was Oscar Pareja telling MLS about the fouls suffered by Mauro Diaz, sounds like he needs to hold onto a few tissues for his own use.