The Timbers were down 2-0 at halftime against Real Salt Lake, but they came back to equalize on a wonderful free kick by Evander. They then trailed again after conceding what seemed to be a winning goal in the 89th minute, but Jonathan Rodriguez’s diving header in stoppage time rescued a point for the Timbers and moved them 7 points above the playoff line with just 4 games to go.
Immediately following their 4-2 win at home over the Western Conference-leading LA Galaxy, the Timbers had to hit the road to play another top Western Conference team in Real Salt Lake.
First half:
Dominik Marczuk put RSL on top in the 10th minute and Diego Luna added to it in the 22nd, slotting a rebound past Maxime Crepeau. Luna was initially ruled offside but VAR overturned the call and Salt Lake was up 2-0.
The Timbers trailed 2-0 at halftime and a comeback seemed unlikely since they had to overcome a two-goal deficit on the road at altitude against the 2nd place team in the West.
Second half:
The Timbers got a goal back through Antony, who scored off a corner in the 62nd minute to get Portland within a goal. The Timbers leveled things in the 76th on an Evander free kick. The free kick master fired the ball off the underside of the crossbar and into the top corner
RSL took the lead back in the 89th minute, Diogo Goncalves beat Crepeau at his near post to give RSL a late 3-2 lead and after the all that the Timbers did to fight back in the second half, they were going to come up just short of taking a point away from home. That is, until the second minute of stoppage time when Miguel Araujo delivered a brilliant cross to the back post and Jonathan Rodriguez’s diving header got the Timbers back on level terms and salvaged a hard-fought draw.
The Timbers will travel to Vancouver for their next match against their Cascadia rivals, the Vancouver Whitecaps, who are just a couple points ahead of them in the Western Conference table. A win would not only move them up the standings and greatly improve their playoff chances, it would also mean that the Timbers would be in a great position to win the Cascadia Cup.