Timbers beat the earth movers 2-1
Question for the fans, will the Timbers go to the playoffs?
The club is three points off of fifth place.
So all that doom and gloom at the weekend was misplaced. The club got back on the winning ways with a 2-1 win over San Jose, a club that the fans in the NASL era really hated. Its one of those times that having a midweek match is a good thing, because you can slip past the loss of the weekend, and get onto the next match. For all those people who are questioning if Spenny should be fire, go away. I know as a Liverpool fan, I should be more aware that when a fan base starts questioning it’s manager, that I should be placing money on that manager losing their job. Sadly, i won’t.
Now quotes and stats from the wonderful Timbers.com:
Timbers head coach John Spencer
On getting players ready after loss to Colorado:
“I think it’s easy to get up for games here. The passion and energy that’s in the stadium is just tremendous. I thought from the first whistle, we asked them to start well, and they certainly did that. I thought some of the football in the first half was probably the best that we’ve played in a long time.”
On beating a red-hot team in San Jose:
“Probably the hottest team in the country right now; the best second-half team in the league, bar-none. I thought we thoroughly deserved the three points tonight. I think this says a lot for the guys. It’s not going to be coaching. It’s nothing to do with me and the staff, I said that to them before the game. These are the types of games where you’ve got to go and produce. I take my hat off to every single player that stepped on to the field tonight. I thought they were magnificent. I thought when we’re under pressure, guys that don’t usually defend as hard defended with everything they had. Showed a lot of character, a lot of guts, and a tremendous, tremendous win. Probably one of the most satisfying wins we’ve had here as a coaching staff.”
On the play of the team’s defense:
“I spoke to you a couple weeks ago, the Seattle game, I think it was a similar type performance again tonight. But we’ve got to be more consistent with that. We can’t just do it at home. A special group of guys. They keep believing in each other as much as we believe in them. You’ve got to work that way home and away. There’s no easy games. You can make the games easier by out-working the opponents, and we made it a little bit easier on ourselves tonight going 2-0 up.”
On Danny Mwanga scoring his first goal with the Timbers:
“I thought it was tremendous break; great counter-attack. I said to Mwanga, you’ve got to have that ruthlessness in your makeup, not be looking to set someone else up. When you get into the box, when you get into the danger zone, you’ve got to become a different animal, so to see him coming across, movement was excellent, and a great, great finish. How could you not want to celebrate in front of the Timbers Army?”
Lineups & Stats
POR: GK Perkins, D Jewsbury ©, D Danso, D Horst, D Smith (Chabala, 63), M Songo’o (Zizzo, 74), M Palmer (Braun, 86), M Nagbe, M Alexander, F Mwanga, F Boyd
Substitutes Not Used: GK Bendik, D Jean-Baptiste, F Fucito, F Richards
TOTAL SHOTS: 19 (Alexander, Boyd, Nagbe, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Five players, 1); FOULS: 10 (Alexander, Mwanga, 2); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 1; SAVES: 2
SJ: GK Bingham, D Beitashour, D Bernardez, D Hernandez (Moreno, 84), D Morrow, M Salinas, M Cronin, M Stephenson (Lenhart, 62), M Baca (Chavez, 59), F Wondolowski ©, F Gordon
Substitutes Not Used: GK Newton, D Zayner, M Ring, F Guvenisik
TOTAL SHOTS: 17 (Gordon, 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Baca, Gordon, Stephenson, 1); FOULS: 16 (Gordon, 4); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 3
Referee: Fotis Bazakos
Assistant Referees: Frank Anderson, Corey Rockwell
4th Official: Paul Ward
Attendance: 20,43
Time of Game: 1:55
Weather: Cloudy, 67 degrees
Stephen Brandt
