There are ties that feel like a win, and there are ties that feel like a loss. 50度灰视频 City SC鈥檚 4-4 tie with the Portland Timbers on Saturday night felt like a catastrophe.
With a chance to record a breakthrough win on multiple fronts and breathe hope into its faint playoff hopes, City SC could not hold on to a two-goal second-half lead. It could not hold on to a one-goal lead with a man advantage with 15 minutes to play. At a point in the season where City SC was going to have start doing things it hadn鈥檛 done all season, it did exactly what it has been doing all season.
鈥淩eally don鈥檛 know what to say,鈥 said a clearly frustrated interim coach John Hackworth. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to imagine coming to a place like this and scoring four goals, being up and then just losing one vs. one defensive battles. Usually when you go to Portland, and if you could say, 鈥楬ey, you鈥檙e going to get a draw out of the game,鈥 you would take it. But it doesn鈥檛 feel that way. And that鈥檚 not what we had a chance to do. Definitely feel like we let two points slip there. Nobody to blame but ourselves. ... This is definitely an Achilles鈥 heel, our Achilles鈥 heel right now, because we鈥檙e giving up too many goals, and it鈥檚 very frustrating.鈥
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鈥淲ith the performance we had, it really stings, to be honest,鈥 said forward Simon Becher, who scored a goal and set up another by getting fouled in the penalty area. 鈥淚 feel like we should have walked away with three points, but going on the road and playing like that for 110 minutes almost really stings, especially when you work that hard and you put that much in the game.鈥
At a point in the season when City SC needs wins to keep alive its playoff hopes, a tie is practically a loss. City SC came into the game probably needing seven wins in its final nine games and now probably needs seven wins in its final eight games. City SC started the night 10 points out of the last playoff spot and finished it in the same spot. And in City SC鈥檚 position, treading water is not a survival tactic.
City SC has given up four goals three times in its past five MLS games (four times in its past nine overall), and it could have been worse on Saturday. City SC鈥檚 expected goals allowed was 5.7, the highest total in club history by two goals. (The previous high for an opponent was 3.5 by Austin last season.) Portland thought it had tied the game in the 82nd minute, only to have VAR wipe out the goal for offside, but even after tying the game in the 99th minute, Portland came very close to scoring again and winning the whole thing.
鈥淚f you don鈥檛 win balls that are put into your box,鈥 Hackworth said, 鈥渁nd you don鈥檛 jump for headers, you don鈥檛 stand guys up, and you don鈥檛 get a block, these are all critical moments in a game that are very preventable and should be executed at this level at a much higher level. ... Ball鈥檚 flighted in the box. You got to get a header on it. Second balls, we have to battle for those. We were very timid, and I didn鈥檛 like that. It didn鈥檛 feel good watching it from the side. Tried to make some substitutions to bring some life to it. Unfortunately, that didn鈥檛 work either.
鈥淭he one thing I like about our locker room right now is everyone is really, really upset. I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 one person in there that isn鈥檛 feeling the exact same way I am. Roman (Burki) spoke very candidly about the fact that this just is not going to get us to where we want to go. We鈥檙e not going to be the team, no matter whether we鈥檙e scoring four goals or not. You鈥檝e got to be able to defend your box, and unfortunately, we didn鈥檛 do that.鈥
The tie will obscure another big performance by the team鈥檚 new attacking trio of Becher, Cedric Teuchert and Marcel Hartel. Becher scored one goal and set up another by getting fouled. Teuchert had a goal and an assist. Hartel became just the second player in MLS history to have three assists in his first MLS game, two on corner kicks. (The other to have three is Carlos Hermosillo of the Galaxy in 1998.) Goals from Eduard Lowen on a penalty kick and Nokkvi Thorisson in the run of play finished the scoring.
City SC鈥檚 problems are not new. When it gave up a goal to Portland three minutes after Lowen鈥檚 PK put them up 2-0, it was the third time in the past four games City SC had given up a goal within four minutes of scoring one of its own. When City SC couldn鈥檛 hold a second-half lead, it was the eighth time that had happened, at the cost of 18 points. With 18 more points, City SC would be in fourth place in the West, not 13th.
The team has dropped 13 points from games it led going into the 70th minute. It鈥檚 the second time it has lost a lead in stoppage time. The team has lost five points in games it has held two-goal leads.
Every time it looked like City SC was out of the woods, the team turned around and went back in. It looked as if City SC had gotten the last break it would need in the 93rd minute when Portland鈥檚 Felipe Mora, who scored two goals, got a red card for fouling Chris Durkin and then catching him in the head with his shoe after Durkin fell to the ground. But six minutes later, Hosei Kijima, who came on as a sub in the 69th minute, was called for a foul on Portland star Evander 5 yards from the top of the penalty area on the left side facing the goal. With a four-man City SC wall in front of him, he curved the ball over the wall and into the top left-hand corner of the goal to tie the game
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty simple,鈥 Hackworth said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 even know what to say. I鈥檓 anxious to go look at the game film. I do want to give Portland credit. I mean, they鈥檙e a really good team. They have some very dynamic attacking players. Evander hits a world-class free kick there. Not sure that was a foul. Doesn鈥檛 look like Hosei even touched him. But again, that鈥檚 on us. We have to do better in these areas because we can鈥檛 expect to go on the road and score four goals and give up four goals. That鈥檚 just unacceptable.鈥
This was the kind of night it was: Burki made a couple of strong saves in the second half to keep City SC ahead, but he also fumbled two balls on Saturday. The first would have turned into a goal if not for a miracle block by Henry Kessler and the second one was scored on and trimmed City SC鈥檚 lead to 3-2.
鈥淩oman made some unbelievable saves,鈥 Hackworth said, 鈥渟o I don鈥檛 want to fault him. But you expect Roman to hold the third goal for sure. It was a good shot. It was trailing away from a little bit, so it wasn鈥檛 easy, but 10 times out of 10 you expect him to hold that.鈥
Kessler and Jannes Horn made their debuts for City SC. Kessler started and had a key block of what looked like a sure Portland goal in the first half and Horn came on as a substitute and got a yellow card 20 minutes into his MLS career, which may be some kind of a record.
Klauss and Rasmus Alm did not make the trip, but Hackworth said they are expected to be full participants at practice this week and should be available for selection for the game with the Los Angeles Galaxy.