By Niall McCusker

Unlike their opponents the Timbers managed to keep eleven players on the field to be rated during this encounter – but it was a strange game that played out in many different phases.

The home side started well with a Fanendo Adi goal being ruled out for offside, but the visitors struck first with a Joao Plata free kick. Portland’s new midfield set-up came into the new season touted as one of the hottest in MLS but they didn’t look great in the first half, especially after the visitors lost Kyle Beckerman to a red card. Pace, power and athleticism are good attributes but they need to be molded into an attacking strategy that best suits the game state.

The Timbers are set up to counter attack very effectively, but when Salt Lake went down to 10 men, they needed to slow the game down, hold possession and pull their opponents around to patiently create opportunities. The second half started better with sustained pressure for the home side and Nagbe pushed up further to exploit the Beckerman-shaped hole in front of Salt Lake’s defense.

It would have been interesting to see how the game played out from there, but Portland soon conspired to gift the visitors a second goal and the patient approach was off the table. Porter immediately summoned two substitutes and the 3-5-2 look that followed had an air of desperation but ended up working out quite well.

The Timbers attack started to threaten more both from the wings and down the middle, but RSL were able to concede corners with impunity as Portland didn’t look like converting any of the 17 they obtained. Any well-created opportunities were spurned, but Portland found a scrappy opening goal, Adi tucking home his second rebound of the season. Soon afterward, he earned and converted (no easy task against Rimando) a penalty, getting his second opponent of the day a red card in the process.

The game entered yet another phase as Portland had over 10 minutes to find a winner against nine men, they certainly went for it, but missed a couple of great chances to clinch the comeback win.

Here are the individual ratings:

Adam Larsen Kwarasey 6: The keeper has recently been recalled to the international fold with Ghana, but he would probably like another chance at the goals from Saturday, especially the first. The dummy run on the free kick seemed to get him off balance as he shifted to his left allowing Plata’s well struck – but not exceptional – effort to beat him right in the area of the net he was supposed to protecting. He favors the ‘star jump’ approach on one-vs.-one situations, leaving him vulnerable to a low finish between his legs – whether Movsisyan had studied that tendency or got just lucky, the keeper might want to vary his approach. He did have a superb reaction save following an RSL corner in the first half.

Alvas Powell 7: The right back is now one of three members of Jamaica’s national team employed by the Timbers and he had another solid game. He wasn’t troubled much defensively and his attacking (apart from shooting) is becoming better, but needs to get to the next level of being truly dangerous. If Adi had got himself onside before heading in his early cross the assist would have done his crossing confidence a power of good.

Nat Borchers 5.5: In Ridgewell’s absence, he is unquestionably the leader of Portland’s defense, so he can’t afford mistakes like the intercepted soft header that allowed Movsisyan to break Portland’s high line for their second goal. He wouldn’t have tried that at the edge of his penalty area so shouldn’t have tried it as the last man even so far from goal, given his lack of recovery speed. When Portland are behind he likes to get forward into the attack and does it effectively, just like last week in San Jose, he played a part in the Timbers first goal, harassing and screening Rimando, preventing him from gathering the ball.

Jermaine Taylor 6: Taylor looks a pretty solid stand-in, he was tasked with following Movsisyan who tended to drift out to the left side and matched up fairly well for the most part. On the offensive side, Portland are already quite a small team, so having a sub-6ft center back is one reason why one of those 17 corners didn’t get converted.

At first glance the Movsisyan goal may not bear much resemblance to Amarikwa’s wonder strike from last week, but the genesis was very similar. A striker pulls wide, Taylor follows, Valentin is operating in the same area and Borchers comes across to cover as last man. This is not a good situation for the Timbers defense to be in – there needs to be better communication between Taylor and Valentin with one of them challenging and the other dropping back.

The security blanket of two defensive midfielders is gone so they don’t have as much redundancy to cover up mistakes.

Zarek Valentin (off in 61′) 5.5: The newcomer isn’t playing particularly badly he is just a little unfortunate that he is posted beside a new center back as well, so naturally there are some kinks to be worked out. He didn’t offer much going forward, though he might (at least at the start) have been under instruction to play conservatively – but he did join Powell and Taylor in their highest shot contest.

The next two games are tough ones in Orlando and LA, assuming the same back four, it will be interesting to see if Porter thinks about reverting to two defensive midfielders for one of those matches.

Diego Chara 6: The Colombian did his usual housework, vacuuming up debris in front of the defense, but this time he bumped the table and knocked over mom’s favorite vase. He didn’t need to give away the free kick that Plata scored, he appeared a little frustrated after losing the ball. A decent game, but he is better suited to competitive encounters with more ‘broken field’ type situations rather than one where Portland are chasing goals against a massed defense.

Lucas Melano (off in 61′) 5: After a couple of very good games to start the season the Argentinian was much too quiet in this one. Unlike the San Jose game in which he and Powell appeared to be starting to form an understanding they didn’t link to any great effect. He had one decent look, with a glancing header from a Valeri free-kick, before being withdrawn as Portland fell two behind.

Diego Valeri 6.5: The ‘maestro’ has not quite followed up on his excellent opening game of the season, as in San Jose, this was a mixed performance. He had an early shot, swung in a nice free kick and set up Powell for one of his shots into the Timbers Army, but like the rest of Portland’s midfield in the first half he was not functioning at his best level.

The best period for Valeri was late in the game when Portland used their 3-5-2 against 10 men and later something like a 2-5-3 against 9 opponents. At that point there were going to be gaps in RSL’s defense and Valeri found them (despite probably being worn out from taking 17 corners!), McInerney should have won the game from his late pass.

Darlington Nagbe 6: When Beckerman was dismissed, Nagbe should have pushed up immediately, but he stuck with his nice, conservative passing and linking game. If you think this is the best use of this player, then remind yourself of these two goals against a certain Nick Rimando in 2012.

At the start of the second half Nagbe showed much more urgency driving the Timbers forward and making plenty of runs into the box. This was his most influential period of the game before switching to the left when Ned Grabavoy came on. He picked out the other sub McInerney with a nice cross soon afterward, which should have earned him an assist.

Dairon Asprilla (off in 89′) 6: Like the rest of Portland’s midfield he didn’t do much of note in the first half, but upped his game in the second. He was a bit busier than Melano, but it might have been a close decision as to which of them got pulled on the hour. After the formation adjustment Asprilla switched to the right side and did better over there, though he should have scored on a header from a corner. He isn’t a left sided player and may go back to impact substitute if Barmby is showing well in training or if the team reverts to a 4-2-3-1 system. He did very well to adjust his body quickly to get the shot onto the bar that fell to Adi for the team’s opening goal.

Fanendo Adi 8: The big man was easily Portland’s best player on the night, he did his job, occupying defenders on the edge of the box and setting up his colleagues. He set up Valeri for a shot within 30 seconds and brought other midfielders into the game consistently. But the midfield is back to being cold when it comes to scoring; the burly Nigerian had to do the job himself in the end, tucking in a tricky rebound and making it look routine.

He had already been on the end of one hefty challenge from Beckerman in the first half when he got in a tussle with Olave in the box and ended up taking a back hand across the mouth. Whether Adi instigated the initial contact was inconsequential, the defender’s response was dumb and gave an eagle-eyed assistant a chance to propel himself into the limelight (and they love to do that!). He calmly waited until Rimando (best PK saver in the league by far) moved, before rolling the spot kick in the other direction – no one will be fighting him for penalty taking rights for a while.

The only thing missing from his performance was to complete Portland’s still elusive first MLS hat-trick, he had a chance with a late header from a set-piece.

Substitutes:

Ned Grabavoy (on in 61′) 5.5: The former RSL stalwart did a decent job in the middle. If Portland were so inclined he could play this role and allow Nagbe to push up to one of the wide forward slots. This would be a nice look in games were Portland wanted to transition from their fast vertical style into a more laid back possession based tempo.

Jack McInerney 4.5: He was brought on to score, job not done. One criticism of McInerney is that he needs goals served up on a plate. In this game the Nagbe cross he whiffed on and the late through ball from Valeri he hit right at Rimando were served up on silver platters. He did show that instinctive ability to find space in the box and will have other chances to forge a reputation as a late game hero.

Darren Mattocks: The former Whitecap got just a few minutes in his Portland debut and will be excited to see if his old college coach can reignite his career.