Despite their record, the Portland Timbers are a pretty good team. They started with 13 straight road games due to their stadium renovation but are 3-2-1 over their last 6 and their new striker, Brian Fernandez (club-record $10 mil transfer fee), has now scored 6 goals in his first 5 MLS starts. After this win over FCD, the Timbers sit 6 points behind FCD with 3 fewer games played. FCD is now 1-6-3 at Portland all time.

The point being, Portland is a lot better than the casual observer might think. FCD played pretty well with that in mind - on turf, away from home, at a place they historically struggle - and the game came down to one or two chances with a late first-half letdown being the difference. And in the 2nd half, as FCD pressed to even the game, they looked really exciting.

We shared some things in the half, and I thought the second half was fantastic. I thought we pushed the game, I thought we went for it. We created much more. I thought we put in the effort to tie this game. - FCD Coach Luchi Gonzalez

Let's break it down.

Lineups and Tactics

FC Dallas stuck with the 4-2-3-1 and the same lineup that was pretty dang good against Toronto and Vancouver (except for the last 15). During the week, I thought there was a chance we might see a more experienced Jacori Hayes for Brando Servania or even a 3-5-2 that Coach Gonzalez has used on the road a time or two... but that wasn't to be.

FC Dallas starting XI at Portland Timbers. (9-30-19) (FCD / FC Dallas)

Coach Luchi Gonzalez brought on Honduran international Bryan Acosta in the 56th minute and that sub really changed the game for Dallas. The subs of Santiago Mosquera for Dom Badji in the 70th minute and Ricardo Pepi for Brandon Servania in the 78th minute were also effective. The latter shifting Jesus Ferreira into midfield.

Portland played a 4-2-3-1.

Portland Timbers starting XI vs FC Dallas. (6-30-19) (MLS / MLS)

In a straight swap, Marvin Loria came on for Jeremy Ebobisse in the 68th minute. Then some defensive reinforcements were brought on: Zarek Valentin for Jorge Villafaña in the 79th minute and Andrés Flores for Cristhian Paredes in the 87th minute.

Goals

0-1 Portland Timbers goal. 42nd minute. Blanco makes a centering pass to Diego Chara - who all three FCD defenders chase - so when Chara flicks the ball on to Brian Fernandez, he's wide open for the blast on net. Matt Hedges gets a small deflection which may have actually helped the shot avoid Jesse Gonzalez.

An MLS Policy Change

Before I get into the good and bad, let me fill you in on an MLS policy change that few people, including myself, seemed to not know about. I couldn't understand why Bryan Acosta wasn't suspended for this game, having gotten a yellow card and earning a suspension in the final game before he left for the Gold Cup. It turns out Acosta served the suspension during the June 8 San Jose game... when he had already left for the Gold Cup. He shows up as suspended and on international duty against the Quakes (see image). Former FCD Digital Content Manager Carter Baum says that's a new policy for MLS. A player can now serve a suspension while on international duty. So there you go.

The MLS game notes for the FC Dallas game against San Jose Earthquakes on June 8th. Bryan Acosts is listed as both suspended and on international duty. (MLS / MLS)

El Bueno

Bryan Acosta was Man of the Match for me. He changed the game when he subbed in. As well as Edwin Cerrillo and Brandon Servania have played of late, Acosta is still at another level (as Carlos Gruezo is too). It was interesting to watch Servania and Acosta play as twin 6/8 hybrids in a double pivot most of the 2nd half. I don't think that's viable from the start of a game, but trying to come back on the road, sure why not. You may need your outside backs to play much more conservatively to even begin to try and play that way for 90.

"Yeah, Bryan Acosta is dynamic. He's in that 6/8 role, helps us recover the ball, he closes things down, and then with it, he has a lot of quality. He's comfortable with the ball, he has the technique, and it's great to have him back in our midfield. We look forward to having him continue to be ready to push for the next opportunity." - Coach Gonzalez

This is a pretty good save by Jesse Gonzalez on a Diego Valeri from a really dangerous position. Bad position for a foul there by FCD. Gonzalez bailed them out.

It was only four days since the Vancouver game, but Santiago Mosquera was light years better in this one. He looked strong on the ball and pretty dangerous. This was more of what he looked like in the spring. Santi's not back to his top form yet though, so he better do something to win the left wing job fast or it will go to the new guy pretty quick.

Bressan as a defense-first right back continues to work fairly well. He gets forward a little but I still think Reggie Cannon takes that job back as soon as the US is out of the Gold Cup (only 72% passing by Bressan in this game). But for now, Bressan is providing stability to an all-20-years-and-under midfield in front of him.

Since I ripped Luchi Gonzalez for his subs against Vancouver, I'll give him credit in this one. All three subs were impactful and helped his side get back into the game. Despite not getting the goal, tactically I liked all three moves and thought all three worked as intended.

The defense was pretty solid in this one, but the standout was Reto Ziegler. 87% passing led FCD's back line, 1 tackle, 3 intercepts, 4 clearances, and 1 block. 9 of 12 on long balls too, which Dallas had to do a lot of since they were having trouble breaking down the Timber's mid-block.

El Camino del Medio

Clearly, Ricardo Pepi is ahead of Zdenek Ondrasek in the pecking order. I think Pepi will stay with FCD as their 2nd choice #9 unless Cristian Colman comes back and outplays him. Only then will Pepi go back down to NTX - outside of a doubleheader where Pepi doesn't play in the MLS portion.

I can't quite bring it upon myself to hit Edwin Carrillo (95% passing led FCD) and Brandon Servania (83% passing) hard on this game. They were, after all, an 18 and 20-year-old going up against Diego Valeri and Diago Chara, two vastly experienced 33-year-old MLS superstars. For the most part, the young FCD boys held their own, but they did get exposed a couple of times and one of those moments gave Portland their one goal. Indeed, those moments probably decided the game. Both Servania and Cerillo need to gain experience, learn when to foul or be fouled, when to venture forward and when not to. This is part of the growing pains of young kids starting. So it's not bad, it's part of the process.

Diego Chara's impressive performance against Dallas earned him a well-deserved spot on the @MLS Team of the Week. 🙌



DETAILS | https://t.co/IZpVqu1tui | #RCTID pic.twitter.com/i1rdkAceKD — Portland Timbers (@TimbersFC) July 1, 2019

Yeah, Portland has a talented midfield. They try to overload a lot of guys in there, and even Blanco on the wing coming in kind of created four in the midfield. It was hard for us at times, but other teams in the league do that as well so we need to adapt to that quicker and figure out how to play against them quicker." - Paxton Pomykal

I think Brandon Servania is more of an 8 than a 6, Cerrillo remains the stay at home 6 when they play together. Servania was making some silky moves between lines in offensive possession. His confidence is really high right now. Here's his chart broken into before and after the Acosta sub, clearly he shifted sides.

Brandon Servania passing chart before (left) and after (right) Bryan Acosta subbed on against Portland Timbers (9-30-19) (MLS / MLS)

An off game for Paxton Pomykal as the Timbers keyed him and bracketed him so just 65 touches. And while 93% passing, 2 key passes, and 5 drawn fouls are all pretty good... 2 dispossessions and 5 bad controls aren't. We have high standards for Pomykal now. He's the team's current MVP.

It was a tale of two halves in a way. I thought the first five minutes were really positive from us, and then the rest of the half was God-poor awful -- myself included, that was a really poor half from me. I know that, and I have to be better. -Pomykal

Muy Feo

Jesus Ferreira didn't have a bad game, but his miss was a big miss. If we're gonna rip on Colman and Badji for misses like this, then we need to call Ferreira on them too. He's still the best FCD scorer and he's still just 18, but score that goal and you probably get a point. You want to be a 9? You gotta finish. You can see how Coach Gonzalez values Ferreira because when Pepi was subbed on, Ferreira was shifted to the midfield rather than being brought off. Thus continuing the "where does Ferreira play in a Pepi world" experiment.

I thought Dom Badji was playing too flat, with no energy. There's no bite, no aggressiveness, and little fight on display. He's not winning the hustle balls, the 50/50s. Again, he stayed on the ground when he felt he got a fouled rather than bouncing up and helping his team in the offensive third. This was a poor game from him and it was a no-brainer he got subbed. Given how sharp Mosquera looked, I expect Badji will be on the bench next game.

Matt Hedges had a rough day on the turf; struggling with this touch, footwork, and passing a little more than usual. Hedges is a baller and has really raised his game this year; overall he was strong in this game. So I'm sticking with it being the turf on the odd bobbles he was having.

Ryan Hollingshead got disposed four times on the day. Ouch.

Dear Uni-Mas English SAP color guy - It's FC Dallas, not Dallas FC - come on man, it's not that hard.

Next Game

FC Dallas hosts DC United in their annual 4th of July fireworks game on Thursday, 8 pm CT kickoff. That'll be fun.