So Chivas has been playing better on the road than at home this season. Prior to tonight they'd only won once at the Home Depot Center. Portland has been the opposite, great at home but dog meat on the road. The home unbeaten streak ended last week to DC United, could the Timbers bounce back and pick up points on the road?
The game started out nice and wide open on both sides. Both teams were really looking to counter attack and it was a pretty good tactical match. Also, both teams got some shots on goal, but you really got the feeling that Chivas was having a better time of it than the Timbers. They were definitely the more confident side. They had a couple of really good chances as well. The best came right before the half as Justin Braun had a wide open header at an empty net, but put it wide, to secure the 0-0 half time score.
The second half was pretty much a carbon copy of the first. Chivas had the possession and the better chances. Portland menaced a bit from set pieces, but rarely got them on frame. They continue to look pretty horrid from open play. Jewsbury did have one really good crack, but Kennedy got hand on it to put it over the bar.
Chivas finally struck twenty minutes from time. They moved the ball up the pitch pretty much at will against an over matched Portland defense. Finally after some cheeky moves, Mondaini, aka ANKLE BREAKER, put it in the back of the net to give the Goats a 1-0 lead. That proved to be the full time result as Portland never seriously threatened.
Great win for the Goats. Robin Fraser is doing a really good job with this team, and you can see their confidence growing. On the other hand, Portland seems to be on a bit of a downer. Just a couple weeks back, during that stretch of home games, they looked invincible. Still, the glaring weaknesses were there, and they haven't been fixed. They still have a hard time playing a possession game, their defense is still shaky at best, and they can't score goals from open play. These need to be addressed. They need to stop pretending they're an elite MLS side until they can get it done on the road.
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