"After losing the first match of the best-of-three series, Portland appeared set to fall at the first hurdle at Providence Park until Gage Guerra's 98th-minute leveller ensured the game would go to penalties. Jeppe Tverskov's missed spot-kick allowed Antony to score and seal a 3-2 win in the shootout, sending the best-of-three series to a deciding match at Snapdragon Stadium."
"When you get to the playoffs, I think the words 'find a way to win' is probably the most important thing," Neville said. "We wanted to make it a certain type of game in our home stadium. Now, can we do that away from home? I don't think we can. I think we've got to obviously be adaptable again. We know San Diego are a fantastic team that have had a fantastic season."
"San Diego, meanwhile, are aiming to dust themselves down from the late setback last time out. The second expansion team in three seasons to win the Western Conference regular-season crown will have to do so without injured goalkeeper CJ dos Santos, however. The hosts are also still dealing with the aftermath of a dressing room incident that left Hirving Lozano out of Game One. He did return and scored off the bench in Game Two."
Portland recovered from a near defeat in the first match of the best-of-three MLS playoff series when Gage Guerra scored a 98th-minute equalizer to force penalties. Antony converted the decisive spot-kick after Jeppe Tverskov missed, tying the series and sending the teams to a deciding match at Snapdragon Stadium. Portland played a more direct style in Game Two and emphasized concentration, adaptability, work rate, confidence and belief heading into the away decider. San Diego, Western Conference regular-season champions and an expansion team, will miss goalkeeper CJ dos Santos and are managing the aftermath of a dressing-room incident that briefly sidelined Hirving Lozano.
Read at Soccer News
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]