Early in the Portland Timbers' fractious 1-1 draw with the Vancouver Whitecaps, Will Johnson misplayed a pass, turned, and screamed at Liam Ridgewell.
After the match, one that Ridgewell would describe as, "very frustrating," the Timbers' highest-salaried player was asked how to stay calm when a match turns as combative as this derby finished. He answered, "Walk away. You can't speak to the referee. He doesn't want to speak to anyone. So you can't talk to him."
It was good advice. Hopefully Johnson, who was the first man back in the Timbers locker-room after the game, was listening.
Johnson's night didn't get any better after his early frustration with Ridgewell. All night, the Canadian misplayed passes, struggled to keep up with Matias Laba, and, outside of a few dangerous long-range strikes, failed to influence a game that did not go even remotely like the Timbers wanted.
Johnson doesn't suffer quietly. He'd be given a yellow card, and then a red card, for jawing at referee Juan Guzman after the final whistle. It was a moment where you'd have wanted your captain to get in Johnson's ear, or drag him away. But of course, Johnson is the captain. He didn't act like it on Saturday night. And that's how a fair, hard-fought 1-1 draw has consequences it never should have been given the power to force.
If a Sounders player — let alone skipper — had done what Johnson did after the match against the Whitecaps, he'd have been skewered and mocked relentlessly in Portland. Johnson had nothing to gain from yelling at the referee after the game was over. Ridgewell, or Nat Borchers, or Jack Jewsbury, would never have done the same. But he had a point.
If you hadn't heard referee Juan Guzman's game before tonight, that's because he doesn't get very many high-profile assignments in MLS. He doesn't get too many assignments period. That's because he's not a very good referee. The game got away from him late, as several damaging sequences could have been stopped by calling routine fouls in the buildup to more egregious fouls.
It was an ugly ending to a good game — and that's without mentioning a horrifying foul, worthy of the straight red card it received, by Jordan Harvey on Diego Valeri.
The soccer was a reversal of sorts from the first two meetings of the year between these two teams, mostly because Vancouver decided not to be so doggedly stodgy, and because Laba decided he was tired of hearing he can't play against the Timbers.
After another exceptional Timbers Army tifo, the Whitecaps controlled much of the first half. Adam Kwarasey was a bit of an adventure, and ultimately played well, but the best save of the night for the Timbers came when Borchers scrambled back to save a Kekuta Manneh shot off the line.
Borchers, whose value had come under some question with the reemergence of the more physically dominant Norberto Paparatto, showed why he's so valuable. No one reads the game better than the weariest man in MLS. Borchers leads the league in shot blocks because he's never out of any play. He doesn't run faster than anyone, but he sees things faster than almost everyone.
He was Portland's best player on the night, other than Diego Chara, who was, as usual, combustion on feet. He created the Timbers goal by tearing the ball off of Laba, and after a nice pass from Fanendo Adi, Valeri fired past David Ousted.
The scales even in the second half though, as Laba redeemed himself with a sensational strike from 25 yards to beat Kwarasey and level the match. No one in the Timbers camp could complain about the final result.
Even though they were missing arguably their two best players, captain Pedro Morales and Hulk's third cousin Kendal Waston, the 'Caps were the best team Portland has seen at Providence Park since April.
The team's two young center-backs, Christian Dean and Tim Parker, are due for special praise. Dean even resembled Waston in his first MLS appearance of the season, while ahead of Laba, Providence Park's most frequent guest Mauro Rosales turned back the clock with an adept, smart performance.
Portland never clicked. In truth, they haven't played very well since that thrashing of Seattle in late June. Whether it's been the toll of the a long season, little injuries, or national team concerns, the quality of football has suffered. The Timbers have just two goals in their last four games, and we still haven't seen the front six that cut apart the Sounders in such style start together again. Gaston Fernandez needs to start.
It was frustrating to see the Whitecaps play crisper than the Timbers, look sharper, and keener to run — especially since Caleb Porter threw away the Philadelphia match to focus on this one. Manneh is DeAndre Yedlin in a more dangerous position, and he'll only get more and more difficult to contain. Octavio Rivero is money too.
Vancouver hasn't believed they could play soccer toe-to-toe with Portland for over a year. But that ship has now sailed. Credit goes to Carl Robinson for a progressive, positive approach, but the Timbers hardly made the Whitecaps uncomfortable.
Portland is in an interesting spot right now. Barring an unforeseen collapse, they're going to be in the playoffs. But this is a team that is still short on quality wins, having only taken two victories from nine against the teams ahead of them in the Western Conference.
So it's a bad time for Johnson to lose his head and get suspended with a trip to table-topping FC Dallas on the horizon. He won't need reminding that the Timbers have only won four MLS games all year without him.
Lucas Melano has been signed to be a game-changer, but nothing in his pedigree suggests he will be. Certainly youth, potential, and considerable versatility make Melano attractive, but he's going to have to hit the ground running in MLS — not an easy thing to do. There's also no timeline for when he'll arrive in the Rose City.
The Timbers turned in a subpar performance against a very decent team on Saturday night. Should be simple as that, but due to those post-game histrionics, it isn't. The Timbers have work to do this season — and they're not making it so easy on themselves.
