The Portland Timbers were denied the opportunity to avenge their Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup loss to the visiting San Jose Earthquakes after a late equalizer from substitute Preston Judd left the match tied 1-1 on Friday night.
Timbers goalkeeper James Pantemis spilled a last-minute desperation strike from San Jose defender Vitor Costa. Judd arrived on the doorstep to slot it past the Canadian.
Defender Juan Mosquera scored his first goal of the season in the 71st minute off a crafty link-up play with forward Felipe Mora, dashing into the box to pound the ball past goalkeeper Daniel. The effort was enough to keep the Timbers (8-4-6, 30 points) fourth in the Western Conference.
The Earthquakes (6-7-5, 23 points) will be pleased with the draw even as they failed to sweep the season series against their conference rivals.
What was a relatively quiet affair up to that point boiled over at the beginning of the second half. Timbers forward and leading goal scorer Antony appeared to overextend a muscle in his leg after a physical challenge in the midfield. He was replaced with substitute Omir Fernandez in the 50th minute.
Two minutes later, Earthquakes midfielder Ian Harkes was sent off with a second yellow card after a late collision with veteran Timbers midfielder Diego Chara. Contact appeared rather slight, but yellow cards cannot be reviewed by video assistant referee.
San Jose forward Amahl Pellegrino was presented with perhaps the most enticing opportunity of the first 45 minutes. A powerful strike from Earthquakes midfielder Beau Leroux left Pantemis sprawling on the goal line. Pellegrino skied the rebound on what ought to have been the go-ahead goal for the visitors.
The Timbers had two offside goals disallowed over the course of the match. Even in defeat, Portland extended its unbeaten run at home to an impressive nine matches. Assistant coach Dave Van den Bergh acted as Portland’s manager with Phil Neville suspended.
–Field Level Media
