San Jose Earthquakes vs. Portland Timbers | 2020 MLS Match Preview

2020 MLS Regular Season – Week 12
San Jose Earthquakes vs. Portland Timbers
Earthquakes Stadium – San Jose
September 19 – 10:30 PM ET

STREAMING: MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US; MLS LIVE on DAZN in Canada

LOCAL TV: FOX 12 Plus (KPDX) , NBC Sports California

For the second time in four days, the San Jose Earthquakes host the Portland Timbers after the Western Conference foes played to a 1-1 draw at Earthquakes Stadium Wednesday night. 

For the Quakes (2W-4L-5D), it was their second consecutive draw, extending a winless steak to six, while the Timbers (4W-4L-3D) have just one win in their last seven regular season games. 

San Jose Earthquakes

Matias Almeyda again juggled his lineup, giving JT Marcinkowski the nod in goal and 18-year-old Homegrown Jacob Akanyirige made his MLS debut at center back. They trailed 1-0 in the first half, but rallied to level through Vako in the 76th minute to earn a second consecutive home draw.

"I believe the players adapted well to our system tonight on the field," Almeyda said after the game. "I will say again, when you have time to train, you can practice in many areas of a game plan. But when you cannot train, you can't. The interpretation from the players has been really important, their concentration, and execution because most of the planning is done in drawing. They haven't really trained. But in these last two games, we really have had resistance, love for the game, and we have to keep going."

• Updated team roster
• Injury Report:
  • OUT: Danny Hoesen (F) - thigh injury
  • OUT: Jack Skahan (M) - thigh injury
  • OUT: Casey Walls (D) - thigh injury
  • OUT: Guram Kashia (D) - thigh injury
  • OUT: Jacob Akanyirige (D) - thigh injury
  • OUT: Oswaldo Alanis (D) - knee injury
• Suspended: None
• Suspended after next caution: None
• International duty:  None

Portland Timbers

The Timbers lone goal Wednesday night was a family affair. Diego Chara set up brother Yimmi's first MLS goal in the 33rd minute. They are the fifth set of brothers in MLS history to combine for a goal. They join Chris and Sean Henderson, Alex and Cristian Roldan, Bradley and Shaun Wright-Phillips and Jamar and DaMarcus Beasley.

"Yimmi showed a lot of quality today, he played an excellent game, was able to score a beautiful goal," Timbers coach Gio Savarese said at his postgame video conference. "We played him the minutes that we thought he needed and he continues to advance, he continues to get stronger and better. Hopefully he's going to be fully fit soon to be able to play 90, we're working on it. But today his performance was outstanding.

"And then, what am I going to say about Diego? We know that he's constant, he's always one that you can rely on. He's always bringing top-level quality to the team. It was great to see both of them have a very good performance today."

• Updated team roster
• Injury Report:
  • OUT: Dairon Asprilla (M) - left knee injury
  • OUT: Blake Bodily (M) - right thigh injury
  • OUT: Sebastian Blanco (M) - right ACL injury
  • QUESTIONABLE: Larrys Mabiala (D) - right thigh injury
  • QUESTIONABLE: Chris Duvall (D) - right lower leg injury
  • QUESTIONABLE: Jeff Attinella (GK) - lower back spasms
  • QUESTIONABLE: Andrés Flores (M) - right thigh injury
• Suspended: None
• Suspended after next caution: None
• International duty: None

Series Matchup at Earthquakes

• Earthquakes: 5 wins, 18 goals
• Timbers: 2 wins, 11 goals
• 5 draws

Officials

• Referee: Rosendo Mendoza
• Assistant Referees: Nick Uranga, Benjamin Hall-Volpenhein
• 4th Official: Elijio Arreguin
• VAR: Edvin Jurisevic