Portland Timbers struggle through final game before international break, lose 2-1 to Inter Miami

It’s over. Mercifully. At least for three weeks.

The Portland Timbers lost 2-1 on the road at Inter Miami on Saturday, heading into the three-week international break on a three-game losing streak. The Timbers (3-6-6, 15 points) sit at 10th in the MLS Western Conference standings.

“A game we cannot lose,” a sullen Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese said postgame. “In the second half, we put a good fight, but we were unlucky. We had to throw everything at them in the second half, and unfortunately, they found the second goal and for us it became very complicated.

“The guys sacrificed in the second half to make a better game. In the first half, even though we did create some good moments, it needs to be better with a little more belief and more determination to want to do the things that we can do.”

The Timbers were aggressive on the counter early, finding solid attacking moments thanks to crosses from Justin Rasmussen and Larrys Mabiala. Unfortunately for Portland, however, these moments rarely led to actual chances.

For Miami (5-6-3, 18 points), the first major chance came in the 13th minute on a long, powerful shot from Bryce Duke, saved by Aljaz Ivacic. One minute later, Duke picked up a yellow card for his open-field takedown of Yimmi Chara.

Portland’s flashes of quality attacking play showed up again in the 22nd minute, but after a nice lead-up, Dairon Asprilla wasn’t able to get on the ball to attempt a shot. It was the continuation of a stretch of poor play from Asprilla, who has been relegated to the bench more often than not recently.

Miami opened the scoring in the 27th minute on a play Portland defended with minimal resistance. A header from Leonardo Campana on the unimpeded cross in from Christopher McVey made it 1-0.

Portland’s defense continued to struggle as the game approached half. Campana had another on-target header in the 31st minute, but it was saved by Ivacic. In the 35th minute, Mabiala earned a yellow card that gave Miami a set piece just on the edge of the box.

Coming out of the halftime break, Miami had a chance within the first minute that forced another diving save from Ivacic. Without the efforts of Portland’s keeper, the Timbers might have been down two or three more scores at that point.

Portland had its share of opportunities on the counterattack, but it largely failed to take advantage of them as it played with minimal finesse and urgency. No individual stepped up as a playmaker, and the Timbers were flat.

After a brutal turnover by the Timbers near midfield, Miami extended its lead to 2-0 in the 59th minute on a goal from Robert Taylor that he finished on a rebound that came off the post.

“I think the first goal is a goal which we can credit to Miami,” Savarese said. “They found the right spaces to get in behind. We fell asleep in the wide area. … The second goal is one that we can prevent. The second goal is one we gave to them and we put ourselves in a more difficult situation. We have to be smarter and we have to be better in those moments to be able to keep the score at one (to zero).”

Portland brought on Sebastian Blanco, Bill Tuiloma and Santiago Moreno in the 66th minute, and the subs injected some energy and life into a struggling Portland side. Tuiloma provided a spark in the 78th minute, scoring a goal on a header after a broken play to cut the Miami lead to 2-1.

“We kind of struggled a little bit,” Tuiloma said. “We picked it up again and figured out what to do on the pitch and where they were hurting us. We basically locked that down and the subs who came on put a lot more energy into the game. Happy to get the goal, but still, we didn’t get the result that we wanted.”

Unfortunately for the Timbers, the margin stayed at 2-1 the rest of the way.

Tuiloma’s opportune score, strong chances from Nathan Fogaça in the 81st and 85th minutes, and a serious take from Cristhian Paredes from up close that came off the post highlighted the final stretch for Portland. Paredes’ was the best, nearly equalizing a game Portland largely struggled in.

Other than a late flurry spurred by its subs, the Timbers’ effort throughout the second half was mostly lacking. Their legs seemed tired, and the oft-injured team ended up limping into the three-week international break with three consecutive losses.

Portland’s next game is at 2 p.m. June 18, on the road at the LA Galaxy (TV on ESPN).

— Ryan Clarke, [email protected]