Sep 28, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Austin FC defender Guilherme Biro (29) controls the ball against Real Salt Lake in the first half at Q2 Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
Austin FC needs a win to keep alive its slim hopes of advancing to the MLS Cup playoffs on Wednesday night when it visits the ninth-place Portland Timbers.
Even a tie would make it impossible for Austin (9-13-9, 36 points) to catch Portland (12-10-9, 45 points), although it would leave FC Dallas (10-14-7, 37 points) with a slim chance. if they manage to win all the games.
It looked like Austin’s hopes would be extinguished on Saturday. Instead, a late comeback to draw 2-2 at home against Real Salt Lake on Saturday night (with goals after the 80th minute from Jader Obrian and Guilherme Biro) kept them alive after a difficult stretch in which the Verde struggled to convert the opportunities he created.
“Overall, we’re very pleased with a lot of what we’ve done,” Austin coach Josh Wolff said of the last few games. “But you have to score goals to win games. That was the problem.”
El Verde enters Wednesday’s trip with a streak of five games without a win. He has scored more than five goals only five times in his last 21 league games.
Portland doesn’t have that problem, having scored 64 goals before Wednesday’s game, the most in the Western Conference. And with 15 goals and 18 assists, Evander has participated in more than half of them, as he prepares to be the MLS Most Valuable Player.
The Timbers can seal their postseason spot with a win against Austin or a tie combined with a loss or FC Dallas tie with last-place San Jose.
After a 1-1 draw in Vancouver over the weekend, the Timbers play two of their last three games at home, where they have won 60 percent of their league games so far.
Although their first objective is simply to secure qualification for the playoffs, that final stretch could provide an opportunity to catch up with teams like Houston, Vancouver and Minnesota to try to move up two spots and avoid the wild card round.
First-year Timbers coach Phil Neville is happy with that proposal.
“When we were… in preseason and we were setting goals for the season, I think if we had said, ‘Look, there are three games left and our destiny is in our own hands, under our own control, with two games left. Timbers Army,’ I think we would have put our hands up right away,” he said.
–Field level media
