Sporting Kansas City 2-4 Portland Timbers: Semi-Instant Reaction & Full Celebration

What do you mean, "my flatulence"?

Without going too deep, this will be the first of the weekly posts I’ll be shifting to in an attempt to…look, God know what. At this point, any long time readers know as well as I do that there. is. no. answer. to. that. question.

At any rate, the current plan is to post an immediate (to semi-immediate) post-game reaction post right after I watch the game, and then to add the scouting report on the Timbers’ opposition for the following week and notes on the current state/vibe of the Western Conference to that same post later in the week. Plugs will go up on Bluesky when the post is complete, but the idea is to create a Weekly post that, when all’s said and done, reviews that past week’s result, previews the next week’s game, and puts both in the context of the Western Conference writ large. And, to cap it with the punchline, I’ll be saving time on all this by tightening up the copy. And god laughed…

About the Game
When a game starts, you often get to see the idealized version of how each team hopes to play the game – and I think both the Portland Timbers and Sporting Kansas City offered decent spins on their better selves to start. While Portland’s first goal didn’t come entirely out of the blue – i.e., it was David Da Costa’s terrorizing of SKC’s right that led to the corner kick – but it’s not every day we have the privilege of seeing a teammate, in this case, David Ayala, bolt into the area and tuck it home. Spilled my damn drink, then and there. Kansas City defenders didn’t see it coming either – defending Da Costa’s cross passed from Shapi Suleymanov to Dejan Joveljic - and that set the tone for a game that ultimately turned into the kind of 4-2 road win that makes a fan feel good about the local team. Right, marching through these goals briskly as possible…

SKC worked the system I flagged in the Scouting Report – i.e., isolate Suleymanov on the right and let him cook – and he got Diego Chara to poke on a maneuver inside. Suleymanov equalized on the ensuing free kick, partially thanks to Ian Smith misjudging the size of his own ass, which froze everyone else and opened a lane for the ball to fluff into the far-side netting. After a mere 10 minutes of the same back and forth, the Timbers retook the lead with a move up the(ir) left again: Ayala stepped into a space between The SKC Jacobs (i.e., Bartlett and Davis), they went straight to “oh, shit” mode, Ayala slipped by them, fired on goal and, honestly, hit Kevin Kelsy with the ball. Ugly, but it fucked John Pulskamp all the way up, 2-1 Timbers. SKC equalized again, and through Suleymanov again, when he got loose on Portland’s left and, after getting past one defender (don’t recall), got stopped cold by the bottom of Antony’s shoe on his shin (gotta watch the full highlights for that). After the ref stared at the monitor for what felt like days, he pointed to the spot, Joveljic stepped up and scored a dirty Panenka. Put a pin in that one. If I had to explain the first half to an alien, I’d run with something like, 45 minutes of basically competent soccer (it knows what it is; don’t even go there), punctuated by catastrophic errors.

The difference between an accident and hubris.

I could explain the second half by telling that same alien that SKC fell on their sword and, then explaining the meaning of that phrase (it’s not great with idioms). That act ended with a 54th minute own goal by Jansen Miller and started with Antony picking the ball off the feet of that same player just five minutes earlier to set up Portland’s third goal. Despite all the necessary running about and kicking, the game ended as a contest after the Timbers’ fourth goal went in. Some nice things happened – e.g., it was good to see Jonathan Rodriguez not just get back on the field, but put one on goal – and seeing James Pantemis avenge Joveljic’s Panenka by stuffing him and denying SKC a consolation goal? That’s just good writing, people. (Again, please see full highlights.)

An Aside Sporting Kansas City
I hyped them a bit in the Scouting Report, mainly because that felt like the responsible thing to do, but between their record, the defensive instability over their first games of 2025, and all the young players (interim) head coach Kerry Zavagnin has committed to breaking in, this result tracks. The mistakes those youngsters made plumbed the searing depths of convincing dudes in their late 20s watching from home that they could do maybe do better, and firmed up my loose impression that SKC is a basically capable team that commits self-sabotage over five-minute intervals - i.e., they keep giving up two goals in five minutes’ time. Good teams get out of those, but SKC? Somewhat related, the more I watched, the more I realized that three of Portland’s goals came up the side defended by Khiry Shelton. I like their front three – that’s Daniel, Salloi, Joveljic and Suleymanov – while also believing that Zavagnin, or however succeeds him needs to either find his best middle 3 (in this sample line up), build a better midfield or come up with a formation that better suits the talent he has on hand, or that he will ultimately acquire. For all that, and for all the mistakes SKC’s youngsters made tonight, I also endorse this note from Matt Doyle’s latest weekly column:

“But [Zavagnin] should keep playing these guys. Run the tough yards now, and give them a chance to be the long-term answers at the spots where there have only been questions for so long.”

SKC needed to get young as badly as any team in Major League Soccer. Not that they were alone there…

Timbers Talking Points
1) A Supporter of the Youth Movement
The 2025 Timbers aren’t all young and, when Rodriguez gets back out there, they’ll get a bit older again, but I’m a big fan of scanning the line up and seeing a bunch of players in…festive tan? What’s that tan kit called? Warming Bamboo? At any rate, I feel very good about seeing Phil Neville start a bunch of players in their 20s week after week – and feel even better seeing them get results. Woo!

2) Surman, Ayala, etc.
I like Ayala and I like Finn Surman. I’m getting tired of trying to find new ways to say things like this and I think that’s a big part of why I’m trying to figure out an approach that only brings them up to say, yeah, still impressed. Good [scoring contributions] (we need a better word/phrase here; that's clunky, doesn't zip) by Ayala, though, who I know doesn’t score a bunch, and he really has evolved into the fantastic two-way player I’d always hoped he’d be, but I did find a good angle for…

2a) The Crucial Compare/Contrast
Surman generally locked things down all over yesterday, getting one step ahead of attacking roads, anticipating incoming passes, staying tight on his marks, and committing Defense 101 like it was his brand. Any Timbers fans asking how bad it can get should cast a “there-but-for-grace-of-God” glance at SKC’s youngsters and appreciate that the Timbers F.O. finally got something right. Related…

3) A Stat I Did Not Now
I think I celebrated Portland’s three early clean sheets in 2025 in last week’s post, but something I heard during yesterday’s broadcast made me feel a little better about the season so far and here that is: the Timbers remain unbeaten in 2025 in every game when they scored the first goal. That feels like a really positive sign for the state of Portland’s defense, and long may it last.

4) Yes, But…
Yes, the refereeing was bad/weird, and sometimes in a way that felt almost personal, but…did it matter? Listen to Elsa on this one. Let it go, let it go, through the wind and through the snow. Or something like that.

To be continued…