Portland Timbers Draw Montreal Impact at Providence Park
The Portland Timbers and the Montreal Impact played out a 1-1 draw at Providence Park on Wednesday night as the Timbers extend its unbeaten streak to eight matches. Portland prepare for a West Coast matchup versus Seattle Sounders FC on Sunday as Montreal prepare to take on New York City FC.
MLS Soccer News: Playing their second match in four days, the Portland Timbers battled the Montreal Impact to a 1-1 draw before a sold-out crowd of 21,144 fans at Providence Park on Wednesday night, extending their unbeaten streak to eight games in league play.
Producing five shots in the first half, the Timbers (6-6-8, 26pts) opened the scoring in the 14th minute of play when forward Jack McInerney notched his fifth goal of the season, heading midfielder Jack Jewsbury’s corner kick into the back of the net after battling to win an aerial duel inside the six-yard box.
Fifteen minutes later, the Timbers came close to doubling their lead from another corner kick when Jewsbury’s set piece connected with forward Fanendo Adi inside the six-yard box, forcing Montreal to clear Adi’s header off the goal line to prevent Portland from adding a second goal to its tally. In the 34th minute, Adi came close to breaking through, heading midfielder Ben Zemanski’s pass into the back of the net, but the forward was whistled for a foul inside the area.
With one minute remaining in the first half, Montreal (6-4-8, 26pts) equalized the score after a series of fortunate bounces, following a strong challenge on the edge of the box, created an opening for Montreal midfielder Ignacio Piatti, who converted his final effort from inside the 18-yard box.
In the second half, Portland continued to create additional chances on goal with a one-time effort from McInerney that forced Montreal goalkeeper Evan Bush to make a fingertip save in the 48th minute. Three minutes later, the Timbers threatened to add to their tally when midfielder Lucas Melano sped past his defender on the left wing before crossing the ball to Adi at the near post. Adi did well to quickly redirect Melano’s cross on target, but Bush managed to parry his shot wide.
In the 65th minute of play, the Timbers created another chance to break the deadlock when defender Zarek Valentin pulled the ball back to Melano inside the box for an effort that was deflected wide by the Montreal defense, while Jewsbury’s low and driven strike in the 88th minute forced Bush to make another difficult save.
Next up, the Timbers return to league action on Sunday, July 17, against Seattle Sounders FC, presented by Providence Health & Services, at Providence Park; kickoff is set for 12:01 p.m. (Pacific). The match will be broadcasted live on FOX beginning with the pregame show at 11:30 a.m. (Pacific) with local radio broadcasts on 750 AM/102.9 FM The Game (English) and La GranD 1150 AM/93.5 FM (Spanish).
Source: Portland Timbers. Photo Credit: Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports
