It was a very odd night at Providence Park. There was nothing odd about the opponent, the Vancouver Whitecaps, whom the Timbers have played many times over the last 45 years. What was odd was that because of how COVID-19 has affected the current MLS season, Vancouver is playing the remainder of their home games at Providence Park also. And tonight’s match vs. the Timbers was one of them.
So most of the advertising boards were for Whitecaps sponsors, the Timbers were the road team on the scoreboard, and the piped-in crowd noise was that of a Whitecaps home game.
In many other ways though, the match was similar to last week’s match vs. Seattle in that the Timbers scored early, and then clamped down their defense for the rest of the match. The Timbers took a 5th minute lead on their first shot of the match, when a Felipe Mora header off an Eryk Williamson free kick snuck in past Vancouver goalkeeper Bryan Meredith for a 1-0 lead. Andy Rose hit the left post with a header for the Whitecaps a few minutes later, and just before halftime, the Timbers were lucky to maintain their lead as Timbers goalkeeper Steve Clark made a spectacular save on a Fredy Montero header.
In the 52nd minute, Vancouver’s Lucas Cavallini had another great chance to equalize as he had a chance to head into an open Timbers net, but his shot slipped just wide.
Steve Clark had six saves for the Timbers, while Bryan Meredith had three saves for the Whitecaps.
MATCH RECAP | Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0, Portland Timbers 1 | Timbers Website
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS | Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0, Portland Timbers 1 | Sept. 27, 2020 | Timbers Website
