PORTLAND, Oregon – (Saturday, August 29, 2020) – Real Salt Lake (2-1-4, 10 points) needed two goals in the final four minutes, but earned a 4-4 road draw against the Portland Timbers at Providence Park on Saturday.
Corey Baird led the charge with one goal and two assists, while Damir Kreilach added his fourth goal of the season. But it was a 90th-minute goal from Giuseppe Rossi and a stoppage-time equalizer from Sam Johnson that gave RSL the hard-fought draw on the road as RSL set a new club record for first-half shots with 18 and equaled the record for shots in a game with 29.
Real Salt Lake outshot Portland 18-6 and held 67.8% of the possession in the first half, but the Timbers went into the break with a 2-1 lead. Portland got on the board with an opportunistic goal from Diego Chara in the sixth minute. While RSL evened it up with Baird’s second goal of the season in the 19th minute, Jaroslaw Niezgoda nodded in a Diego Valeri corner kick in the 21st minute to retake the lead for the Timbers.
RSL equalized in the 48th minute when Kreilach’s jumping scissor kick beat Steve Clark to make it 2-2. Portland would score two unanswered from Sebastian Blanco in the 70th minute and Felipe Mora in the 85th minute, but RSL Head Coach Freddy Juarez saw his second-half substitutes come through for the second straight match. First it was Rossi, corralling a ball and turning to his left foot to make it 4-3 in the 90th minute. Then Johnson netted the equalizer in stoppage time, fielding a pass from Baird and turning to his left foot to spring a shot past Steve Clark to give RSL a point on the road in dramatic fashion.
UP NEXT: RSL will host Seattle Sounders FC on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. MT in the first MLS match at Rio Tinto Stadium since March 7.
GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN:
POR: Diego Chara 6th minute – On a simple ball in the back, Diego Chara picked off a pass at the edge of the 18, dribbled around Andrew Putna and deposited his shot in the open net for the 1-0 lead.
RSL: Corey Baird 19th minute – After an RSL free kick was defended by the Timbers, the clearance fell to Corey Baird on the right side and he put it past Steve Clark for his second goal of the season to equalize at 1-1.
POR: Jaroslaw Niezgoda (Diego Valeri) 21st minute – On a Portland corner kick, Jaroslaw Niezgoda leapt for a header that deflected off Maikel Chang and into the net to give the Timbers the 2-1 lead.
RSL: Damir Kreilach 48th minute – On an RSL corner kick, Maikel Chang got his head to it and it came to Damir Kreilach at the far post for a leaping scissor-kick past Steve Clark for his fourth goal of the season to even it up at 2-2.
POR: Sebastian Blanco (Jeremy Ebobisse) 70th minute – Dribbling up the right side, Sebastian Blanco cut to the middle and curled a left-footed shot from the edge of the box that found the far top corner of the net to reclaim the 3-2 lead for Portland.
POR: Felipa Mora (Sebastian Blanco) 85th minute – Moments after a Nedum Onuoha shot caromed off the post, Felipe Mora raced the other way and slipped a right footed shot past Andrew Putna for his first MLS goal to give Portland the 4-2 lead.
RSL: Giuseppe Rossi (Damir Kreilach, Corey Baird) 90th minute – Corey Baird whipped in a ball that was knocked down by Damir Kreilach to Giuseppe Rossi in front of the net. He collected the ball, then turned for a left-footed shot from six yards out for his first RSL to narrow the deficit to 4-3.
RSL: Sam Johnson (Corey Baird) 90th minute +4 – Corey Baird slalomed through the Portland defense before sliding a pass to Sam Johnson with his back to goal. Johnson turned and fired a left-footed shot past Steve Clark to level the match at 4-4.
NOTES:
- RSL midfielder Kyle Beckerman was unavailable while serving the second match of a two-match suspension.
- Douglas Martinez and Chris Garcia were unavailable due to injury.
- Justen Glad was unavailable while tending to a family matter. He is expected to be available on Wednesday.
- RSL’s 18 first-half shots was the most in a first half in club history and tied the record for most in a half, equaling second-half totals on April 21, 2018, against Colorado and April 28, 2019, against the LA Galaxy.
- 29 shots for the match equals a club record, previously done on October 15, 2017 against the Colorado Rapids.
- Corey Baird and Damir Kreilach both scored for their second consecutive match.
- Giuseppe Rossi scored his first goal in an RSL uniform and 129th in his club career.
Match: Real Salt Lake at Portland Timbers
Date: August 29, 2020
Venue: Providence Park; Portland, Oregon
Weather: Clear and 64
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 1 3 4
Portland 2 2 4
POR: Diego Chara 6’
RSL: Corey Baird 19’
POR: Jaroslaw Niezgoda (Diego Chara) 21’
RSL: Damir Kreilach 48’
POR: Sebastian Blanco (Jeremy Ebobisse) 70’
POR: Felipe Mora (Sebastian Blanco) 85’
RSL: Giuseppe Rossi (Damir Kreilach, Corey Baird) 90’
RSL: Sam Johnson (Corey Baird) 90’+4
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Andrew Putna; Aaron Herrera, Nedum Onuoha, Marcelo Silva, Donny Toia; Pablo Ruiz (Sam Johnson 81’), Damir Kreilach; Maikel Chang (Giuseppe Rossi 84’), Albert Rusnàk, Justin Meram (Everton Luiz 67’); Corey Baird.
Subs not used: Zac MacMath, Erik Holt, Nick Besler, Tate Schmitt, Justin Portillo, Milan Iloski.
Portland Timbers (4-2-3-1): Steve Clark; Chris Duvall, Larrys Mabiala, Dario Zuparic, Jorge Villafana; Diego Chara, Eryk Williamson (Christhian Parades 78’); Sebastian Blanco (Marvin Loria 90’+3), Diego Valeri (Renzo Zambrano 90’+3), Jeremy Ebobisse (Andy Polo 78’); Jaroslaw Niezgoda (Felipe Mora 67’).
Subs not used: Aljaz Ivacic, Julio Cascante, Pablo Bonilla, Tomas Conechny.
Stats Summary: RSL / POR
Shots: 29 / 15
Shots on Goal: 8 / 5
Saves: 1 / 4
Corner Kicks: 13 / 6
Fouls: 7 / 10
Offside: 1 / 1
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
POR: Diego Chara (caution) 30’
POR: Larrys Mabiala (caution) 67’
POR: Eryk Williamson (caution) 69’
RSL: Sam Johnson (caution) 81’
OFFICIALS:
Referee: Ismail Elfath
Assistant Referees: Jeffrey Greeson, Mike Rottersman
4th Official: Michael Radchuk
VAR: Daniel Radford
AVAR: Michael Kampmeinert
