Portland Timbers 1-0 AIK Futboll
March 4, 2012
Preseason Tournament
Crowd: 17,357
Weather: Sunny – 54 Degrees
Match Preview:
One a rare, beautiful, Sunny Sunday in Portland, Oregon, the Portland Timbers completed their preseason with a match against 11-time Swedish champions, AIK Futboll. AIK were unbeaten coming into this final game of the round robin tournament having sealed a 2-0 victory over Chivas USA last Monday and then drawing 0-0 in a more lackluster game against the San Jose Earthquakes on Thursday.
The Timbers, had enjoyed an undefeated preseason including an impressive win over the LA Galaxy in Los Angeles and came into this final game having drawn both of their first two against San Jose and Chivas USA 1-1 on Monday and Thursday respectively. Preseason of course, is just that and with many players out and full-strength teams often not put out it is difficult to really gauge how far a team has come in the close season and how well they are prepared for the new one but the Timbers have been good to watch and seem to be no the right path with the new season fast approaching. Some decent business has been done during the transfer period with signings such as the exciting midfielder Patrick Songo’o and Scottish International Kris Boyd.
With the San Jose Earthquakes having thumped Chivas USA 5-0 in the 2:30pm kick-off, only AIK could win the round-robin group as they were on 4 points to San Jose’s 5 and the Timbers’ 2. It was a dream start for new signing Kris Boyd in his first game for the Timbers as he coolly glanced home a header from Kalif Alhassan’s right-wing early cross on 6 minutes. It truly was the finish of an old pro who knew what he was doing and it’s pretty clear that his big frame and awareness are going to prove nightmares for defenses this season in the MLS. If pacey players like Jorge Perlaza or Bright Dike can feed off his knock-downs, it could be a very successful season for the Timbers in attack
1st Half:
With the Timbers pretty much dominating the opening exchanges, the game then settled into a ‘cat and mouse’ affair with Portland looking to get forward at every opportunity, with emphasis on utilizing the wide men. For the most part AIK dealt with the pressure pretty well but Jorge Perlaza missed a decent chance with 26 minutes on the clock when he fired into the side-netting from just inside the penalty area. AIK began to get into the game around the half hour mark with a couple of half-chances, a shot from outside the box easily dealt with by Troy Perkins and a couple of corners that came to nothing. They did force a half-decent save out of Perkins though when Robin Quaison thundered a 30 yard free-kick at the center of the goal in the 41st minute. Perkins chose not to try to catch it and instead force it over the bar. Kris Boyd went close again for the Timbers just before the break with another header this time at the far post but it lacked the pace to get past a grateful Ivana Turina who scooped the ball up as it bounced up at him. Jack Jewsbury, who didn’t have a great half was booked in the 22 minute for a reckless challenge.
Half-Time: Portland Timbers 1-0 AIK Futboll
2nd Half:
AIK began the second half well with a decent attempt from outside the area from Captain Daniel Tjernstrom that forced Troy Perkins into a diving save on his left hand side in the 51st minute. The Timbers almost had another through Kris Boyd who was put through in the 55th minute by Alhassan but he didn’t really get a decent shot away and Turina forced it out for a corner. The Timbers crowd was angered in the 58th minute when Kalif Alhassan danced brilliantly around three AIK defenders and was seemingly clattered into at the by line by Nils-Eric Johansson. It was an ugly challenge and some referees might well have given a penalty for such a clumsy challenge.
Into the last 30 minutes and the Portland Timbers went close again, this time it was Rodney Wallace, fresh from international duty midweek with Costa Rica who drilled at shot low to Turina’s right but the Croatian keeper was able to get his hands to it. AIK defender Niklas Backman was given a yellow card for a foul right on the edge of the penalty area as Alhassan looked to skip past him again and the resulting free-kick was blasted low and deflected out for a corner.
AIK brought on a couple of 20 year olds in Kwame Karikari and Alexander Milosevic and their best chance came with 20 minutes to go as Karikari looked to do exactly what Kris Boyd did in the first half from a cross by Daniel Gustavsson but he pushed his header wide of the target. Karikari then wriggled free of Mosquera as AIK pressed the now slightly tired-looking Timbers with ten minutes to go but his shot was easily smothered by Perkins in the Timbers goal. Just 2 minutes later Timbers wide man Alhassan once again danced around another hapless AIK defender and placed a cross right onto substitute (for Kris Boyd in the 75th minute) Bright Dikes’ head who could only power it straight at Turina.
Full Time: Portland Timbers 1-0 AIK Futboll
Shots: Por 4, AIK 6
Corners: Por 13, AIK 11
Summary:
The Portland Timbers played with a higher tempo than either of their two previous games in the tournament and they deserved the victory. Kris Boyd came through 75 minutes and although clearly not match-fit, he looks the real deal and could help to push the Portland Timbers up into a play-off place this season. Alhassan was very impressive tonight and gets the MOTM award for me. 17,357 turned out to support their team on this mild Sunday afternoon and they will be the 12th man on the pitch again this season as their enthusiasm continues to push their side onwards and upwards.
Final Table:
Pos Team P W D L F A Pts
1. San Jose Earthquakes 3 1 2 0 6 1 5
2. Portland Timbers 3 1 2 0 3 2 5
3. AIK Futboll 3 1 1 1 2 1 4
4. Chivas USA 3 0 1 2 1 8 1
Mark Henty,
World Football Daily Portland Timbers Correspondent.
Twitter: @MarkHenty
World Football Daily
