PORTLAND, Ore. – The battle between the two teams at the bottom of the Western Conference ended in a stalemate as the Portland Timbers and FC Dallas played to a 1-1 draw on a hot, steamy Sunday afternoon at JELD-WEN Field.
A goal by FCD forward Scott Sealy in the 51st minute – beautifully assisted by midfielders Brek Shea and David Ferreira – had Dallas in line for their second consecutive victory over Portland before a Zach Loyd red card and a late Jack Jewsbury golazo brought the hosts level.
After a dour first half that didn’t see much except some rough challenges and one sterling save each from Troy Perkins and Kevin Hartman, things came to life just on the other side of halftime.
After Julian De Guzman fluffed a perfect look two minutes in, Ferreira, Shea and Sealy combined to give the visitors the lead four minutes later. Shea, making his first appearance since July 18, snuck past a flat-footed Portland backline to get onto the end of Ferreira’s perfectly-weighted through ball. He then squared for Sealy, who had a simple tap-in for his second goal of the season.
Less than 60 seconds later, however, FCD were down to 10 men when Loyd was send off for dragging down Portland’s Franck Songo’o, his second yellow of the game. At that point, it became the Kevin Hartman show.
The veteran ‘keeper posted a series of highlight-reel saves in the second half, turning away Songo’o in the 62nd, Bright Dike in the 68th and Danny Mwanga in the 78th minute. But the Timbers continued to press, and Jewsbury was in the right place at the right time to get onto the end of a Hartman punch-out, lacing a left-footed volley that evened the score in the 79th.
The result allowed Dallas to inch ahead of Colorado and into a tie with Chivas USA for sixth place with 26 points from 24 games. FCD host Colorado next Saturday.
Portland remains in the conference cellar with 20 points from 23 games, but snapped their five-game losing streak. They’ll have next weekend off before traveling to Toronto on Aug. 15.
Dan Itel covers the Timbers for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at dcitel@hotmail.com.
Portland Timbers (5-12-5, 20pts) vs. FC Dallas (5-11-8, 24pts)
Aug. 5, 2012 – JELD-WEN Field
Goals by Half 1 2 F
FC Dallas 0 1 1
Portland Timbers 0 1 1
Scoring Summary
FCD: Sealy (Ferreira, Shea), 51
POR: Jewsbury, 79
Misconduct Summary
POR: Songo’o (Caution), 23
FCD: Loyd (Caution), 36
FCD: Loyd (Caution), 52
FCD: Loyd (Ejection), 52
POR: Chara (Caution), 70
Lineups & Stats
POR: GK Perkins, D Kimura, D Mosquera, D Horst, D Smith (Alhassan, 77), M Nagbe, M Jewsbury ©, M Chara, F Richards (Mwanga, 61), F Boyd (Dike, 61), F Songo’o
Substitutes Not Used: GK Bendik, M Palmer, M Wallace, F Fucito
TOTAL SHOTS: 21 (Songo’o, 7); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Songo’o, 2); FOULS: 12 (Songo’o, 3); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: 2
FCD: GK Hartman, D Loyd, D John, D Hedges, D Benitez, M Castillo (Hernandez, 87), M Jacobson ©, M Ferreira, M de Guzman (Marcelin, 76), M Shea, F Sealy (Rodriguez, 57)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Seitz, D Pertúz, M Guarda, F Luna
TOTAL SHOTS: 8 (Shea, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Ferreira, Sealy, Shea, 1); FOULS: 8 (Jacobson, Loyd, 2); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 6
Referee: Ricardo Salazar
Assistant Referees: Cory Rockwell, Mike Kampmeinert
4th Official: Tyler Ploeger
Attendance: 20,438
Time of Game: 1:51
Weather: Sunny, 88 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
