MIAMI
–
With their second road match in three days, the Portland Timbers played the Miami FC Blues to a 0-0 draw on Sunday afternoon at Tropical Park Stadium. With its fourth consecutive draw, Portland recorded its fifth shutout of the season.
Goalkeeper
Ray Burse
and the Timbers (3-0-4, 13pts) picked up their league-leading fifth shutout of the season in the draw against Miami (1-4-2, 5pts) and have recorded four consecutive draws since a 2-0 win over the Seattle Sounders on April 26. The Timbers remain unbeaten through seven matches this season.
Portland, playing its third consecutive road match, out-shot Miami 10-7 and had the advantage in corner kick attempts 6-3.
Entering the match as substitute in the second half, midfielder
Lawrence Olum
delivered the Timbers best scoring opportunity of the night late in the game. Following a short one-two combination with midfielder
Miguel Guante
inside the box, Olum pulled the trigger on a shot from the right corner of the six-yard box that rattled off the top of the near post.
Portland defender
Cameron Knowles
had a chance to steal a road victory off a corner kick in the 86th minute. But Knowles’ side-winding kick from the top of the six-yard box sailed over the crossbar.
Both sides traded scoring opportunities in the first half. In the 13th minute, Miami’s Eddie Gutierrez sent a long ball across the penalty area, but the ball sailed over two Blues players making a run at the left post and landed out of play.
Late in the first half, Timbers forward
Chris Brown
and midfielder
Shaun Higgins
worked a give-and-go near the top of the box. Higgins nearly found Brown on the return pass but a Miami defender was able to poke the ball away before Brown could chase it down.
The Timbers escaped a scoring opportunity for the Blues in the 62nd minute as Burse slipped while reacting to a free kick taken from the top of the box. From the ground, Burse watched the ball roll just wide of an empty net.
Miami’s offense found its rhythm midway through the second half forcing Burse to make his lone save of the night down the stretch. In the 63rd minute, Burse denied a shot by Miami along right side of the box, the rebound trickled out to another Miami player but the follow-up shot missed wide. Burse then picked off a cross deep down the field in the 79th minute to spoil another late scoring opportunity by Miami.
The Timbers return home for a pair of matches next weekend starting with the Whitecaps on May 24 at PGE Park at 7 p.m. Portland then faces Miami on May 26; kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. Tickets, starting at $11, are available through the PGE Park box office, area Ticketmaster outlets, online at
www.ticketmaster.com
or by phone at (503) 224-4400.
Notes:
Timbers midfielder
Bryan Little
earned his first start of the season on his 30th birthday Sunday … Sunday’s match marks the first draw between the two sides keeping the all-time series record tied at 2-2-1 … Portland has scored just two goals in it last four matches.
Lineup:
POR: GK Burse, D S. Thompson, D Griffin, D J. Thompson, D Knowles, M Guante (Poltl, 83), M Higgins, M Little (Lara, 65), M Gregor (Olum, 66), F Brown (Bagley, 68), F Suzuki
MIA: GK Saunders, D Gutierrez, D Dias, D Ramirez, D John, M Cameron, M Pulido, M Barrett (De Marta, 59), M Vasquez, F Fraser (Galavis, 82), F Alfonso
Scoring Summary:
None
