Earthquakes-Timbers Preview
The Portland Timbers made an ugly loss look like an aberration in their last league game, bouncing back with a lopsided win over a Western Conference leader.
They've had positive recent results against San Jose, though the stingy Earthquakes have hardly been pushovers of late.
The host Timbers go for their sixth win in seven MLS games and third in a row in this series Sunday night against a San Jose team that's unbeaten in three.
Portland (8-6-4) was routed 5-0 at Los Angeles on June 24 but rebounded to defeat visiting Seattle 4-1 last Sunday. MLS player of the week Fanendo Adi scored twice in two minutes in the second half and Darlington Nagbe and Rodney Wallace added goals against a Sounders club battling for first place.
''We got Rodney's first goal, and Darlington's first goal. It's great to have the wingers chipping in,'' coach Caleb Porter said.
Porter's team has scored 14 goals in its past six victories across all competitions, though the offense disappeared again in 2-0 road loss to Real Salt Lake on Wednesday that eliminated the Timbers from the U.S. Open Cup.
Porter said he's "disappointed" over the end of that competition, but "now we focus all our energy and hunger into the league," starting with the Earthquakes.
"They're a good team," Porter said. "They're three points behind us but they have two games in hand. ... (They have a lot of) guys with size, guys with athleticism and like I said, guys with experience. So we expect a real battle."
Portland has won four straight at home in league play, one shy of tying the club record set in 2011, and is 3-0-3 all time against the Earthquakes at Providence Park.
San Jose (7-5-4) defeated Los Angeles 3-1 on June 27 following two straight shutouts in a 2-0-1 stretch in league play. The Earthquakes, though, fell 1-0 to the Galaxy in the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday.
San Jose made numerous changes to the lineup that beat Los Angeles four days earlier, with midfielder Sanna Nyassi the lone holdover.
"It was a great opportunity for me and some of the other guys to get some significant minutes," midfielder Tommy Thompson said after making his second overall start of the season. "We're disappointed with the result. ... To have nothing to show for it is difficult to swallow. We've got to keep our heads up, we have a big game this weekend against Portland and have to move on from here."
The Timbers went 2-0-1 in the 2014 season series, winning 3-0 in the most recent meeting Oct. 8 behind two goals from Diego Valeri and one from Wallace.
San Jose has allowed a goal in the 22nd minute or earlier four times in the last six overall games.
"You start the game slow, you can get punished for it and now you're chasing the game," coach Dominic Kinnear said. "And it doesn't matter how many chances you get, or if you think you're the better team, you need to start off the game correctly."