Drilling down on: at Portland 1, Colorado 0

Sep 1, 2012, 12:57 AM EDT

PORTLAND, Ore. – With a swift counter just before halftime, Portland had not only crafted Friday night’s winning goal but also climbed out of last in the West.

Man of the Match: Hanyer Mosquera embodied the cliché “didn’t put a foot wrong.” In open play, he (along with partner David Horst) got the best of Conor Casey, consistently winning physical battles against the Rapids’ striker. On crosses, he was Portland’s most reliable defender - the main reason the Timbers kept their fourth clean sheet of the season.

Packaged for takeaway:

Honduran Hendry Thomas made his Rapids debut, pairing with Jeff Larentowicz deep in Oscar Pareja’s midfield. His inclusion allowed Larentowicz to get forward more often, occupying space behind Martin Rivero. It also put somebody in position to try and cover for Tyrone Marshall.
Marshall, again starting to the left of Marvell Wynne in central defense (with Drew Moor staying right), had a tough first half, jumping into midfield too quickly, vacating his space in the line. Sometimes Thomas covered for him. Other times it was Wynne. Regardless, Marshall wasn’t winning enough of his challenges to justify his abandoning position.
In the 45th minute, Marshall got burned. Darlington Nagbe brought his team into a counter, carrying the ball toward Portland’s final third. The moment he got left back Tyson Wahl to commit, he played a pass in front of right wing Sal Zizzo. In the process, Nagbe had also drawn in Marshall. When Zizzo put his second touch to the edge of the six for Bright Dike, Wynne and goalkeeper Matt Pickens were left in a no-win situation. 1-0, Portland.
For Pickens, the goal carried some Morrisettian irony. Throughout the first half, Pickens had done a very good job reading the play in front of him, picking the right time to come off his line to break up the Timbers’ attack. For much of the first half, Colorado held the edge in shots on goal, and not because they were the better side. Pickens was breaking up plays before Portland could get off shots.
At the other end, Colorado’s attacks kept breaking down as Portland’s physical center halves, Mosquera and Horst, able to out-muscle the Rapids’ lone striker. Without a partner to play off of, Casey was stranded. Outnumbered, he always turned to find one defender free to take him on.
In the second half, Pareja tried to shake it up, first bringing on Omar Cummings (at halftime), then replacing Casey with Andre Akpan. But initially staying with the same formation (playing Cummings out right), Colorado allowed their first half problems to carry over into the second. Eventually Pareja went to two up top, but only shortly before Portland started making their substitutions.
Still, Colorado was almost able to equalize late, with a cross from the right giving Cummings a chance to head the Rapids even from five yards out. The ball ended up sailing through the six, Cummings fanning on the potential equalizer.
With the loss, the Rapids fell to last in the Western Conference, an ignominious distinction given what the Timbers have gone through this summer.
Portland now sits one point back of seventh place Chivas USA. With two games in hand on sixth place Dallas, the Timbers are in position for another late season, morale-boosting surge up the table.