PORTLAND, Oregon — FC Dallas clinched the first playoff spot in the Western Conference Saturday night with a 0-0 draw against the Portland Timbers at Providence Park.
It wasn’t pretty. Going into the match, all Dallas needed was a draw to clinch a playoff berth after a one-year hiatus. Knowing that and being on the road, the team seemed determined to not allow any goals and keep a clean sheet by being compact.
It worked, and Dallas will return to the postseason after its collapse in 2017, when the team missed out on the playoffs on Decision Day with a loss to the San Jose Earthquakes. The 2018 season has been strong for Dallas, but whispers of another failure came after the team’s match-losing spell, consecutive losses in August to the San Jose Earthquakes 3-1 at home and the Seattle Sounders 2-1 on the road.
Dallas had the best chance of the match late in the second half. In the 73rd minute, as a through-ball was played for forward Maxi Urruti, he was beaten to the ball by Portland defender Larrys Mabiala. Mabiala looked to play it back to a defender but instead found FCD forward Cristian Colman, who elected to hit the ball without taking a touch. The shot hit keeper Jeff Attinella in the chest and fell to midfielder Santiago Mosquera, who took an off-target shot.
Colman made his second straight start for Dallas after a positive performance against the Vancouver Whitecaps last week in the team’s 2-1 victory. The Paraguayan earned a call-up from new national team coach Juan Carlos Osorio but has failed to provide a goalscoring edge for his seventh straight appearance.
The first action came in a hectic minute long sequence by both sides. In the 43rd minute, Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri found forward Jeremy Ebobisse in the box. The ball skipped to Diego Chara, who played it to Jorge Villafana on the wing. Villafana finds Andy Polo in the middle of the box, but Polo is taken out by midfielder Lawrence Olum, eliminating the chance for Portland.
On the counter, Dallas came back up the field the reverse way. The ball ended up on Carlos Gruezo’s foot on the outside of the box and he struck the outside post, almost giving Dallas a 1-0 lead going into the halftime break.
Diego Valeria found himself with room on a Diego Chara through ball in the 63rd minute. Valeri cut onto his strong foot, forcing Dallas defender Reto Ziegler to slip, but he did not put a strong shot on target as Jesse Gonzalez made a comfortable save.
Tempers began to flare in the 94th minute. Dallas midfielder Roland Lamah and Timbers defender Liam Ridgewell attempted to go up for a header. Ridgewell’s boot went into the back of Lamah’s leg. Referee Allan Chapman ejected Ridgewell for the challenge as Portland was left with 10 men late in stoppage time.
After the match, Timbers coach Gio Savarese went directly to the referee to express his frustration but was pulled back by members of the FC Dallas coaching staff and Óscar Pareja himself.
FC Dallas will return home to take on Orlando City on Oct. 6 while the Timbers will travel to Utah to take on Real Salt Lake in a crucial match for the playoffs.