Timbers Get a Break, and a Win, Against DC United

It was the perfect storm. The Portland Timbers got a Wednesday night respite from four straight Saturday road games against a DC United side composed almost entirely of reserves, and a chance to dim quickly mounting frustrations about the direction of the 2015 season. They took it.

The final score-line was just 1-0, but this Portland win was about as comfortable as the picturesque night it was played on. In short, DC United brought a slingshot to a knife fight. Good thing too, because these Timbers need all the help they can get.

This isn't a season-defining or season-altering win. The Timbers merely met expectations and had everyone take three steps back from the panic button that was being mashed after the loss at Toronto FC last weekend. The Timbers won't have an easier three points for the rest of the year. But if ever there was a time for a gimme, it was in this game.

It didn't start so calmly. With ticket prices plummeting on the secondary market, the Timbers Army unveiled a pre-match banner that read, "Same As It Ever Was" beneath a red line. Discontent was the name of the game as the Timbers rotated their squad, bringing back captain Will Johnson, but also flops Norberto Paparatto and Gaston Fernandez—two of the most disappointing and damaging signings of the Gavin Wilkinson era. But the bad vibes were gone soon enough as the Timbers rolled.

Bad night for a protest, folks. There was only ever going to be one winner in this game. If the Timbers Army had a clever banner and a few pointed two sticks, all DC United had was a large white flag. Their lineup, which left their two best players on the trip to Portland on the bench, made sure that white flag was waving furiously.

The deciding goal came just five minutes into the match. It came, predictably enough, from a DC United turnover that Gaston Fernandez showed industry to recover, and class to turn across to Maxi Urruti for a tap-in. The Argentines have had plenty of season to gel playing together in the B-team in practice, and it showed as Urruti flew into his teammate's arms to celebrate.

Too bad he has the size of an amateur gymnast, because as he showed consistently over his 60 minutes, Fernandez is still a tricky little player when he sees plenty of the ball, and has space to operate. But those are two things that the Argentine has rarely been afforded in his time with the Timbers, and if his frosty reception for Caleb Porter after he was substituted is any indication, his execution hasn't been stayed for long.

Paparatto, another player who is surely out at the end of the season, also had a positive showing, towering over DC's forwards to win countless headers. Jairo Arrieta blowing by the Paparatto on the one occasion United got a player running at the center-back with pace was a stark reminder of why the trade for Nat Borchers was such a necessity in the first place.

It was just that kind of night where everyone looked pretty good—there was a little more space, a little less pressure, and bigger margins to work with. Dairon Asprilla certainly thrived, giving Chris Korb fits for all 90 minutes in an all-action performance. He should have scored too, and would have if not for a phenomenal point-blank save from Bill Hamid amidst a flurry of Timbers pressure in the middle of the second half.

It was only thanks to Hamid that the game was within reach for DC, who only traveled 14 outfield players and were so depleted that they subbed on captain and center-back Bobby Boswell late in the match as a striker. His only contribution, in the end, was to pick up a yellow card for elbowing Paparatto.

Getting Will Johnson back was certainly a boost for the Timbers. He looked good in his return, which included some trademark Charlie Hustle defense, a 35-yard blast, and a few sliding tackles. Diego Chara was, as usual, terrific playing just in front of him, and while it will take some time for Johnson to get back to his best, the Timbers are better with him on the field.

Of course, it certainly helps to return against a glorified reserve team. Ben Olsen decided he'd rather lose to Portland and then try to beat Portland and suffer the consequences against Philadelphia this weekend. No one in the United camp was too upset with the final result.

The only effort more miserable than DC United's was Fanendo Adi's. The Timbers' DP striker looks absolutely abysmal right now, and he knows it too. Adi isn't a bad player, he's a young player going through a tough stretch. It's his contract more than his form that is hurting his long-term prospects in Portland.

You only get two games a year like this one against DC—maybe less now that Chivas USA is no more—and you have to win them.

On Saturday in Commerce City against the Colorado Rapids, it's back to reality. In that game, the Timbers might be right back where they started this season, with Diego Valeri and Will Johnson out and Jack Jewsbury and George Fochive starting in central midfield with Diego Chara suspended. The game against the Rapids is by far the bigger one—if the Timbers win, they're right at that red line that the Timbers Army emphasized last night.

Maybe it's now that the Timbers finally go on a run and win some games. Last year when Portland started slow, it was obvious why. The defense was a circus. The forward play was anemic. Rodney Wallace was hurt. This year, there is no clear weakness. For the team on the field, there doesn't appear to be a quick fix.

When Urruti scored, the look on Caleb Porter's face as he turned to the bench was one of exasperation, not celebration. The implicit question was, "where has that been all year?" The Timbers confidence that they have enough to win every week, while shaken, remains. That wasn't true of the first part of last year, and certainly wasn't true of the 2012 season. Ironic though that in this game, it was mostly a team imported straight out of 2014 that got the job done.

This DC United match was a reprieve, and it was as pleasantly misleading as it was necessary. One month from today, Seattle comes into Providence Park. The Timbers have four more games before then, and at that point we'll know what's becoming of this season. The jury is still out. Speaking of stays of execution, the Timbers landed one on Wednesday night.