BEAVERTON, Ore. – When the Portland Timbers flew to FC Dallas last season, they did so after one of their season’s worst losses – a 4-0 defeat at a New York Red Bulls team that had rested most of their starters amid Concacaf Champions League concerns. With two weeks to consider their performance, Giovanni Savarese’s squad delivered a turnaround performance, drawing with a Hoops side that wouldn’t lose their second league game until their season’s 15th round. The loss in Harrison, New Jersey, became a wakeup call.
Parallels between that defeat and what happened on Sunday in Los Angeles are obligatory, if still valuable.