The Portland Timbers looked to be heading towards an ugly but acceptable draw on Saturday night in Sandy, Utah against Real Salt Lake. But the match would turn really ugly starting in the 60th minute in many ways, with the Timbers giving up three goals in the next 14 minutes, plus the match seeing six yellow cards (three on each team) and an ejection (Portland’s Diego Chara) during that span, the ejection leading to a penalty kick goal by Álvaro Saborío, his third goal to complete a 3-0 manhandling of the Timbers in front of a crowd of 16,444 on a hot night in Utah.
After a first half that saw few chances for either team, though Real Salt Lake with the better of the chances, they would finally break through in the 60th minute when Kyle Beckerman floated a pass into the box that Álvaro Saborío would rise to get his head on, his header rattling off the right post before slipping past Troy Perkins for the 1-0 lead.
The Timbers defense collapsed four minutes later when Saborio slipped in behind the defense for an easy finish and a 2-0 lead. After a series of scuffles that led to the six yellow cards, Diego Chara would be called for a handball in the box when attempting to defend a corner kick, and Saborio would convert the penalty for the 3-0 final score.
The Timbers have now dropped back-to-back 3-0 results on the road and are 0-6-2 on the road this season, and have been shut out five straight times on the road now, going back to a 3-1 loss in Los Angeles against the Galaxy on April 14.
