By JOSE M. ROMERO
C.J. Sapong's goal celebration in Saturday's 2-1 Sporting Kansas City win against Portland was nothing Timbers fans hadn't seen before.
Sapong's 15th-minute goal and subsequent stop-and-drop, as if to emulate a falling tree, was one of those numbers others have used at Jeld-Wen Field.
There are more serious soccer matters that are becoming all too familiar in the Rose City these days, and among those are the home side's six-game winless streak that includes five losses. The skid goes hand in hand with the fact that the Timbers (5-8-3) have yet to win a match this season in which their opponent has scored first.
That was the case again on Saturday night against SKC. But Timbers coach John Spencer feels the team can find itself again.
"Guys are on the ropes and we've got to get ourselves back on track," Spencer said. "The quicker we get back to getting the first goal and getting a little bit of confidence through ourselves again, that's what we need. We've got another big game coming up, one on Thursday (friendly vs. Club America), and then one on Sunday against our dearest rivals."
That Sunday match is against the Seattle Sounders at Jeld-Wen Field. If the Timbers do nothing more this season in terms of the playoffs or a good record, beating their rivals and finishing as the best team in Cascadia will still count for something. But that honor comes from wins.
It'll be interesting to see how Portland responds. After all, the Timbers are in a tailspin after a hot start at home where they won five straight.
Glaring mistakes were obvious in Saturday's game. Passes that didn't connect with intended targets or went out of bounds. A bad angle by goalkeeper Troy Perkins that helped Sapong's goal. Defenders being out of position to prevent flicks and headers in the box. Runs by attacking players that went nowhere, and a lack of good looks on goal.
These things happened AFTER Spencer started Eddie Johnson at forward over Kenny Cooper and Steve Purdy at right back for Jeremy Hall against Sporting Kansas City.
The lineup shakeup didn't help much offensively despite a wonder-goal from Darlington Nagbe, whom the team needs more from on the attack.
"I think guys need to continue to have that belief that we've got to continue to fight and continue to work hard for one another, knowing that that's the only thing that's going to get us out of this rut," midfielder Jack Jewsbury said.
Getting out of the rut starts with holding the opponent scoreless early in games.
"Experience-wise, we've got a lot to learn," Spencer said. "We've got tremendous young players, if you look at the top young players in the league right now, it took them a while to get where they're at right now."
