Timbers bow out of Leagues Cup with 3-1 loss to St. Louis City

The Portland Timbers won both of their group stage matches in the Leagues Cup, qualifying them for the knockout stage of the tournament. They came from behind to beat Club Leon and then blew out the Colorado Rapids, winning the group and setting them up for a matchup with St. Louis City SC.

The Timbers traveled to St. Louis for their round of 32 match hoping to come away with a win and be one of the last 16 teams in the tournament. However, they were defeated 3-1 and exited the Leagues Cup in the round of 32 for the second consecutive year.

First half:

St. Louis had multiple moments in the first half where it looked like they would score. They hit the post on two occasions and Maxime Crepeau had to make a diving save to prevent a goal in the 39th minute. 

St. Louis had more shot attempts in the first half but only one of them was on goal. The Timbers had two shot attempts in the first half, both of which forced saves out of St. Louis goalkeeper Roman Burki. The best chance of the first half for the Timbers came in the 30th minute when Burki made a diving save on Juan Mosquera.

A concerning moment for the Timbers took place in the 12th minute when Evander went down with a leg injury and had to be subbed off. He was looked at by the training staff and a stretcher was brought out, but as the stretcher was being brought on the field, Evander got up and walked off the field on his own power.

Second half:

St. Louis got on the board first in the 51st minute, capitalizing on a giveaway by Crepeau. Cedric Teuchert got the goal to put St. Louis up 1-0. The lead only lasted three minutes, however. In the 54th minute, Claudio Bravo scored a wonderful goal, taking it first time off a clearance by a St. Louis defender and scoring from distance to level the match.

In the 83rd minute, St. Louis reclaimed the lead off a corner as Marcel Hartel went far post on Crepeau, putting St. Louis up 2-1. Simon Becher added the third goal to seal it in the 87th minute and the Timbers’ Leagues Cup hopes were over.

The Timbers won’t play their next match until MLS play resumes in two weeks. Coincidentally, St. Louis City will be Portland’s opponent in that next MLS match which will take place on August 24. The Timbers are currently 8th in the Western Conference and are 5 points above the playoff line.