PORTLAND, Ore. – It was only a point. But for Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter, it was an important point – born out of what he called his team’s “most important 45 minutes of the season.”
Those 45 minutes, coming in the second half of Friday night’s match against the Houston Dynamo after falling behind 2-0, rescued a point thanks to a relentless offensive push that resulted in Darlington Nagbe and Lucas Melano goals in a 2-2 draw at Providence Park.
“That second half, those 45 minutes, might be the most important 45 minutes of the season because we had to dig deep as a team, and we had to do what hadn’t done all year and that’s come from behind,” Porter said in his postgame comments.
The draw not only kept Portland in good playoff positioning in the Western Conference – tied for third with 40 points from 26 matches – but it also prevented a team below them from taking a big three points on the road. Houston are tied for seventh, eight points back with a game in hand.
It was very close to a disastrous night for the Timbers, who went into the halftime locker room stunned after Boniek Garcia and Will Bruin goals in a five-minute span late in the half.
“We realized in the second half that we were down and didn’t feel like we should have been, but as a group we came together and the whole collective played really well,” said Melano, the Timbers newly signed Designated Player who opened his MLS account in front of a gracious home crowd.
And the Timbers came out of the locker room on a mission, throwing numbers forward and controlling a majority of the action. They fired off 12 shots after managing just five in the first half.
Nagbe’s left-footed roller, after a nifty give-and-go with Melano at the top of the box to skirt a bunkered-in Houston defense, was his second of the season. Melano plucked a Diego Valeri cross out of the air, volleying past Houston goalkeeper Tyler Deric, for the game-tying strike.
What also made it important was that Nagbe and Melano are two attacking players Portland would clearly like to see hit a hot stretch in the season’s final two months.
“We’ll grow from that second half, we’ll grow from having to claw and fight and dig, and I thought we were outstanding, we were hungry, we were aggressive, we were ruthless,” Porter said. “… That will make us a better team.”
Porter cited three lessons he hopes his team takes from the game. First, he said allowing two goals in succession “against the run” is something that “can’t happen.” Second, he said the fight shown in the second half needs to be carried forward. And third, not conceding victory at home could be an important moment in the exceedingly competitive Western Conference.
“Psychologically we leave the game, like I said, having grown and lifted, and they leave it a little bit gutted,” Porter said.
Dan Itel covers the Timbers for MLSsoccer.com.
