The Portland Timbers will get another run at the San Jose Earthquakes less than a month after a 1-0 loss to them at the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
“(It’s) probably the worst I’ve felt all season,” Portland manager Phill Neville said after that match.
The Timbers (8-4-5, 29 points) have won two of three league encounters since bowing out of the competition on May 20. Most recently, a stoppage time screamer off the boot of midfielder David Ayala topped off a 2-1 win for the Timbers over visiting St. Louis City SC on June 9.
“We were fitter,” Neville said. “We were used to playing on the turf in this weather and I thought the substitutions made a massive impact in the game.”
The high-octane San Jose Earthquakes (6-7-4, 22 points) stand in Portland’s way of their first set of three consecutive victories on the season. Though they sit eighth in the Western Conference, San Jose lead the conference in goals with 34.
That same St. Louis team handed the Earthquakes their first defeat in more than a month on May 31, with Eduard Lowen slotting home a stoppage time penalty past goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr., who committed the late infraction.
“We shouldn’t have lost this game today,” San Jose manager Bruce Arena told the press. “Those are plays that shouldn’t happen. We conceded two very poor goals.”
The Earthquakes will perhaps have to make do without forward Cristian Arango, who, even after missing five consecutive matches with a hamstring injury, still leads his team in goals with nine. The visitors will continue to count on the talents of Josef Martinez, who has tallied seven goals of his own in 14 appearances.
It is unclear whether first-choice goalkeeper Daniel will be back between the posts for San Jose after missing three matches with a lower body injury. He was on the bench for the Earthquakes’ defeat to St. Louis.
–Field Level Media
