Cifuentes demands Portland find their finishing touch before San Jose trip
Portland’s playoff hopes hinge on finishing
Marti Cifuentes has called on the Portland Timbers to become more clinical when they travel to face the San Jose Earthquakes, warning that chance creation alone will not be enough to secure a playoff place.
Portland’s position became more precarious after a 1-0 home defeat by Atlanta United. Aleksey Miranchuk scored the only goal in the 28th minute, condemning the Timbers to their 12th defeat of the season despite Portland producing 21 shots and an expected-goals total of 2.3. Atlanta, by comparison, recorded 10 attempts and 0.85 expected goals.
“The whole history is that we need to be better in front of goal and we need to be more clinical,” Cifuentes said. “We need to be better in how we break down low blocks and so on.”
The result left Portland ninth in the Western Conference, with Seattle Sounders, San Diego FC and Austin FC all within range. Cifuentes said his focus was on responding positively rather than dwelling on the missed opportunities.
“I want to be focused, be positive and have a lot of energy to go to San Jose that are having a good season, and try to leave there with a good feeling,” he said.
Earthquakes arrive with momentum
San Jose are fifth in the Western Conference and moved to within two points of fourth-place FC Dallas after a dramatic 2-2 draw with Los Angeles FC. Reid Roberts scored in the 98th minute to complete the comeback after LAFC had built a two-goal lead.
Son Heung-min opened the scoring for LAFC, and Denis Bouanga doubled the advantage eight minutes into the second half after Aaron Long had been sent off. Substitute Preston Judd pulled one goal back before Roberts’ long-range effort found the bottom-right corner.
San Jose manager Bruce Arena described the comeback as a “tremendous test of character and competitiveness,” while praising the quality of a match that also featured Hugo Lloris and Timo Werner.
Key players and recent history
Roberts will be central to San Jose’s hopes after his late equaliser, which was timed at 97:32 and ranked as the Earthquakes’ latest result-changing goal in an MLS match since Shea Salinas scored at 97:34 in 2020.
For Portland, Kristoffer Velde leads the team with eight goals and nine assists. Another assist would make him the fifth player in club history to reach 10 assists in a single MLS regular season, following Diego Valeri, Sebastian Blanco, Evander and Santiago Moreno.
San Jose have won three of their last four meetings with Portland, drawing the other, including a 3-1 victory in Portland in May. The Earthquakes have never completed a season sweep in this fixture, but their current four-match unbeaten run is their longest against the Timbers since Portland entered MLS in 2011.
San Jose’s 12 victories this season are their most since 2019, while Portland remain one of four MLS teams yet to keep a clean sheet away from home this regular season. The Earthquakes are consequently favored to win, with the available model giving them a 46% chance of victory, compared with 26.7% for a draw and 27.3% for Portland.