Underway here at PGE Park. New Timbers' signee Matt Taylor has made his presence felt early, forcing the Atlanta 'keeper to lunge to his right to make a save in the 3rd minute and slamming a shot into the crossbar from 12 yards out in the 8th.
Portland has four shots in the first 20 minutes. Atlanta's lone effort came on a free kick from Angel Rivillo that was wide from 30 yards out in the 21st.
28th: McIntosh covers a shot from Portland's Leonard Griffin
30th: Portland's Matt Taylor runs on Sean Higgins' cross from the left wing but heads over from eight yards out.
31st: Timbers goalkeeper Wicks makes his first save of the match, getting down to corral a deflected free kick from Luis Liendo.
41st: Portland's Andrew Gregor is issued a yellow card.
43rd: Atlanta's Anthony Wolfe earns a yellow card after getting tangled up with Portland's Scot Thompson on the right sideline.
Halftime, with the score 0-0. Stats from the first 45:
Shots: ATL 4, POR 7
Corners: ATL 1, POR 3
Fouls: ATL 11, POR 9
Saves: McIntosh (ATL): 2, Wicks (POR): 1
Cautions: Hayes (ATL) 27th, Gregor (POR) 40th, Wolfe (ATL) 45th
Seconds away from the start of the second half. Silverbacks to kick off. No lineup changes for either side.
49th: Timbers' midfielder Andrew Gregor has a shot deflected wide from 21 yards out. Atlanta clears the ball.
54th: After spending much of the first half pushing forward through the middle, Atlanta is having more success attacking through the flanks but is having trouble getting the ball to the feet of their forwards.
55th: A Portland counterattack ends with Chris Bagley heading Leonard Griffin's cross to the far corner, but Atlanta keeper McIntosh puts it out for a corner. The resulting corner is headed past McIntosh but quickly cleared off the line by the Atlanta defense.
58th: Atlanta's Tony McManus picks up a caution. Gregor's free kick from 35 yards out goes straight into the arms of the Silverbacks 'keeper.
60th: Gregor finds himself on the end of a one-touch through-ball from Matt Taylor, but his hurried shot is well wide.
61st: Angel Rivillo firest well wide for Atlanta. The Silverbacks make the game's first substitution, bringing Justin Moore on for Rafique Hassim.
62nd: Former Timber forward Dan Antoniuk is starting to make his presence felt after a quiet first half, but he is collecting the ball very far from goal and struggling to turn on a very deep-set Portland defense. With Portland's Tom Poltl playing very defensively as a holding midfielder, Antoniuk and Wolfe are at a numerical disadvantage with the ball, as three Timber defenders wait whenever they touch the ball.
67th: An extended possession gives Atlanta a throw in 25 yards from the Portland endline. Portland has 10 players back on defense for this sequence, with only forward Chris Bagley waiting at midfield.
69th: Portland's Justin Thompson rises above Dan Antoniuk to head clear an Atlanta freekick. Luke Kreamalmeyer pushes forward up the right flank for Portland, where Atlanta is whistled for a handball. Gregor's free kick is punched over by McIntosh. The resulting corner settles to Chris Bagley, but his half volley from just outside the box roars over the crossbar.
70th: Another corner for the Timbers, their fifth of the match. Gregor set to take it from the far side. Timbers Matt Taylor and Justin Thompson both reach the ball at the near post, but Thompson heads just wide.
Substitution (ATL): Rodrigo Rios on for Angel Rivillo
72nd: Atlanta's Justin Moore pushes into the Portland half down the right, but his cross from 40 yards out heads well over the endline.
Substitution (ATL): Dayton O'Brien replaces Luis Liendo.
75th: Timbers forward Matt Taylor runs with the ball to the top of the 18, but can't shake a trio of Atlanta defenders. Portland still yet to make a substitution, but has four players warming up on the sideline.
Substitution (POR): David Hague on for Chris Bagley.
80th: Portland's Matt Taylor held off his defender before finding an oncoming David Hague with a backheel pass through the legs of the Silverbacks defender. Hague's shot was parried by Ryan McIntosh and the 'keeper recovered to pounce on the rebound just ahead of Portland's Andrew Gregor, who came in unmarked.
Subsitution (ATL): an exchange of forwards, as Warren Ukah replaces Anthony Wolfe
84th: Corner for the Silverbacks. Atlanta pushing forward more as a group, as we're seeing long stretches with the ball in Portland's half, something there wasn't much of in the first 45 minutes. Foul gives posession back to Portland.
86th minute: Portland's Leonard Griffin slips on the tuft as he tries to cut to the center of the field. Play stopped as he receives treatment from the Timbers trainer.
Substitution (POR): Luc Harrington replaces Leonard Griffin.
88th: Corner for Portland. Ten players back for Atlanta. Ball headed clear, Portland retains possession.
Substitution (ATL): George Buete on for David Hayes. Hayes limped off favoring his ankle.
90th: 2 minutes of stoppage time signaled. Gregor took the seventh Timbers' corner kick of the match, but his long service to the far post found three Atlanta players.
Yellow card (POR): Wicks.
With the ball 40 yards from goal, the referee stops play to issue a caution to the Portland keeper. Atlanta free kick from the right wing. Warren Ukah heads well over as the referee whistles for the end of play. Final score: ATL 0, POR 0.
Lineups:
ATL (4-4-2): GK McIntosh, D Hayes, D Bobo, D Hudson, D Lancaster, M Rivillo, M McManus, M Liendo, F Antoniuk, F Wolfe
POR (4-4-2): GK Wicks, D Griffin, D Knowles, D J. Thompson, D S. Thompson, M Poltl, M Kreamalmeyer, M Higgins, M Gregor, F Taylor, F Bagley
