Saturday night’s match vs. FC Dallas was a match the Timbers should have lost, should have won, and probably ended up in a fair result in a draw that will undoubtedly leave Timbers fans frustrated for years. Marvin Loría had the Timbers goal while Diego Chará‘s own goal in the last second of stoppage time was the equalizer in a 1-1 result.
The first half would see few chances, with the Timbers having the better possession and overall better chances, but the single best chance of the half would be for the visitors in the 28th minute when Paul Arriola made a deep run and his low shot beat Aljaž Ivačič, but rattled off the left post and stayed out. The match was scoreless at the half.
The second half would have much more open play from both sides, and in the 50th minute, Dallas’s Jesús Ferreira would have a good look from near the top of the Timbers box, but Ivačič made a nice diving save to his left. In the 59th minute the Timbers fell asleep after a restart and Arriola found himself alone on a breakaway against Ivačič, but the Timbers keeper forced the Dallas striker wide, then made a fingertip save on the shot and kept the match scoreless.
In the 65th minute the Timbers would have their first good scoring chance of the half, but Marvin Loría curled his shot just wide right. In the 76th minute the Timbers would have another good chance when Loria had a low shot from inside the box saved by a nice reaction from Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes.
In the 84th minute the Timbers once again would feel fortunate to not be down a goal, when Alan Velasco slipped in behind most of the Timbers defense, then made a nice cutback to have an apparently easy shot into an open net, but chipped his shot over the crossbar, and somehow, the match was still even at 0-0.
Then in the second minute of five minutes of announced stoppage time, things really started happening. A shot from Loria appeared to be blocked over the line by Dallas defender Matt Hedges. But a VAR review of the play showed Hedges’ arm had blocked the shot, and after a referee video review, a penalty kick was awarded to the Timbers. Loría stepped up to take the kick, but his attempt was saved nicely by Paes. But the saved shot rebounded right back to Loría, who finished easily into the open net, and the Timbers had a 1-0 lead in stoppage time.
But then in an even crazier finish to the match, Dallas had one last corner kick in the 10th minute of stoppage time, and Timbers midfielder Diego Chará got his head to the ball first, but somehow managed to redirect it past Ivačič, and just like that a 1-0 unexpected lead had turned into a 1-1 unexpected draw and the referee blew the final whistle seconds later.
Aljaž Ivačič had two saves for the Timbers, while Maarten Paes would have four saves for Dallas.
RECAP | The Timbers fight to a 1-1 draw with FC Dallas | Timbers website
HIGHLIGHTS | The Timbers and FC Dallas scrapped for a dramatic 1-1 tie | Timbers website
