Timbers and Dallas draw 1-1, Portland unbeaten in 10 games
By ANNE M. PETERSON
AP Sports Writer
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Marvin Loria scored on the rebound of his penalty kick in stoppage time for the Timbers, but an own goal moments later pulled Dallas into a 1-1 draw with Portland on Saturday night.
The tie extended Portland’s undefeated streak to 10 games, the longest in Major League Soccer, with four wins and six draws.
The Timbers (7-6-12) moved into seventh in the Western Conference, just above the line for a playoff berth with nine games remaining.
Dallas (9-9-7) is in third in the West. The team has won just once in Portland, back in 2016.
“What can I tell you? I mean, that finish, that ending. I’m sure that 99% of the stadium thought that we had three points,” Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese said. “But that’s soccer, that’s the beauty of soccer, sometimes it’s tough. Sometimes it goes your way sometimes it doesn’t go your way.”
Midfielder Sebastian Lletget started for Dallas after practicing twice with his new team. He was acquired this week from the New England Revolution for $600,000 in general allocation money split between this season and next. He scored three goals in 22 games across all competitions for the Revs this season.
Lletget has eight goals in 33 games with the U.S. national team. He played in four World Cup qualifiers last September and October, scoring in the 4-1 win at Honduras.
“I try to steer away from thinking about that it’s only been 48 hours since I’ve been here. But the group welcomed me with open arms,” Lletget said. “I can see why they’ve been doing so well, it’s a young group, it’s so promising. And thankfully I do know Nico (Dallas coach Nico Estevez) well and I know exactly what he wants from me.”
Paul Arriola nearly scored for Dallas on a breakaway in the 28th minute but his shot that flew past Portland goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic hit the far post.
Arriola had another chance in the 59th minute. Challenged by Ivacic, his shot went into the side netting.
Loria’s penalty attempt was stopped by Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes, but Loria buried the rebound. Dallas’ goal came off a corner kick that deflected off of Timbers midfielder Diego Chara.
“At the end of the game, the tie happened. I’m a little bit happy and a little bit sad we didn’t win,” Loria said.
The Timbers started Chara and Dairon Asprilla, who missed Wednesday night’s 1-1 draw with Nashville because of yellow card accumulation.
Paxton Pomykal was out for Dallas with a minor thigh injury.
Late in the game, the Timbers Army fan group waved sunflowers to honor the late daughter of original team mascot Timber Jim. Jim Serrill’s daughter Hannah was killed in an automobile crash on Aug. 5, 2004. The supporters sing “You Are My Sunshine” every game in the 80th minute in Hannah’s memory.
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