Portland Timbers lose 2-1 to Chicago Fire FC in midweek matchup Wednesday night

Franck Boli scored his fifth goal of the season in Portland's loss.

PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Timbers dropped a 2-1 result to Chicago Fire FC at Providence Park on Wednesday evening. After conceding to Chicago early in the match, Franck Boli helped Portland level the score with his team-leading fifth goal of the season in the 26th minute. The Fire responded with the game-winning goal in the final ten minutes of the match to snap the Timbers’ three-game unbeaten streak.

• MATCHCENTER: Stats

Streaks Snapped
Tonight’s result snapped the Timbers’ three game unbeaten streak. The Timbers recorded three consecutive clean sheets with two scoreless road draws at Seattle (June 3) and at San Jose (June 17), while earning a shutout win at home against Dallas (June 11). Conceding a goal at the 7:43 mark of tonight’s match, Portland’s shutout streak was snapped at 277 minutes. It marked Portland’s third longest shutout streak since the 2018 season, trailing only a stretch of 353 minutes from April 14, 2018 – May 19, 2018, and another streak of 395 minutes from Aug. 21, 2021 – Sept. 15, 2021.

Boli Goals
Franck Boli scored his team-leading fifth goal of the 2023 campaign. The Ivorian striker has scored Portland’s last three straight goals. Notably, four of Boli’s goals have occurred in the first half and all five have been Portland’s first in the match.

Goal-Scoring Plays
CHI – Fabian Herbers (Brian Gutiérrez, Gastón Giménez), 8th minute: Brian Gutiérrez received the ball near the endline and quickly served it back towards the top of the six-yard box. Fabian Herbers made a darting run in and finished it with a first-time shot.

POR – Franck Boli (Santiago Moreno, Diego Chara), 26th minute: Standing near the midfield, Diego Chara played the ball wide for Santiago Moreno, who dribbled centrally and slid a pass through two Chicago players and into the top of the box to find Franck Boli. Off his first touch, Boli fired a right-footed shot inside of the right post to score.

CHI – Kai Kamara (Brian Gutiérrez), 83rd minute: From the left side of the field, Gutiérrez crossed the ball towards the back post for Kai Kamara, who fired a header into the turf and the back of the net.

Next Game
Facing a quick turnaround, the Timbers will host New York City FC on Saturday, June 24, at Providence Park. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. (Pacific) with streaming available on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app in English and Spanish as well as local radio broadcasts, 750 The Game (English) and La GranD 1150AM/93.5 FM (Spanish).

Notes

• Tonight’s loss snapped a three-game unbeaten streak (1-0-2) for the Timbers, dating back to June 3. 
• Entering tonight’s match with three consecutive clean sheets, Portland’s shutout streak of 277 consecutive minutes was snapped in the 8^th minute by Chicago.
• The 277 consecutive shutout minutes is the team’s third longest streak since the 2018 season, trailing only a stretch of 353 minutes from April 14, 2018 – May 19, 2018, and another streak of 395 minutes from Aug. 21, 2021 – Sept. 15, 2021.
• After allowing four or more shots on goal by their opponents in 14 of their first 15 matches this season, the Timbers have kept their last four opponents (CHI, SJ, DAL, SEA) to three or less shots on goal. 
• Tonight’s midweek match was Portland’s second in a five-day span. 
• Franck Boli scored his team-leading fifth goal of the 2023 campaign.
• Boli has scored Portland’s last three goals. 
• Four of Boli’s goals have occurred in the first half and all five have been Portland’s first in the match.
• Santiago Moreno recorded his team-leading sixth assist of the season. 
• Diego Chara tallied his third assist of his season and the 32^nd of his career. 
• It marks the first time D. Chara has recorded more than two assists in a season since 2020.
• D. Chara is the only Portland player that has played every minute this season (1,710).
• Dairon Asprilla made his 100^th MLS regular season start for the Timbers tonight. 
• Asprilla is just the ninth player in club history to hit that milestone.
• Four players tied for a team-best seven duels won in the match (Asprilla, Evander, Zac McGraw, Moreno).

Portland Timbers (5-8-6, 21pts) vs. Chicago Fire FC (4-6-8, 20pts)June 21, 2023 – Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)

Scoring Summary:
CHI: Herbers (Gutiérrez, Giménez), 8
POR: Boli (Moreno, Chara), 26
CHI: Kamara (Gutiérrez), 83

Misconduct Summary:
POR: Asprilla (caution), 56
POR: Bravo (caution), 75

Lineups:
POR: GK Bingham, D Bravo (Gutierrez, 90+1), D McGraw, D Zuparic, D Miller, M D. Chara ©, M Paredes, M Evander (Blanco, 72), F Moreno (Fogaça, 81), F Asprilla (Loría, 72), F Boli (Niezgoda, 71)

Substitutes Not Used: GK Ivacic, D Mabiala, D Rasmussen, M Caliskan

TOTAL SHOTS: 17 (Evander, Boli, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Boli, 2); FOULS: 21 (Bravo, 6); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 6, SAVES: 1

CHI: GK Brady, D Czichos, D Pineda, D Souquet, M Aceves (Dean, 69), M Giménez, M Navarro, M Torres (Koutsias, 78), F Gutiérrez (Omsberg, 87), F Przybylko (Kamara, 69), F Herbers (Haile-Selassie, 78)

Substitutes Not Used: GK Richey, D Burks, D Ostrem, F Rodriguez

TOTAL SHOTS: 12 (Torres, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (three players tied, 1); FOULS: 15 (Gutiérrez, 3); OFFSIDES: 3; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 3

Referee: Fotis Bazakos
Assistant Referees: Chris Wattam, Kali Smith
Fourth Official: Brad Jensen
VAR: Younes Marrakch
Attendance: 22,548