By CALEB SONNELAND
There was no separating the San Jose Earthquakes and the traveling Portland Timbers Saturday night as the two sides slugged out a 1-1 draw at Buck Shaw Stadium. Having initially fallen behind to a Timbers goal, the hosts clawed their way back into the game to salvage a result.
The hosts were able to collect a point in the 67th minute after Alan Gordon met a Steven Beitashour cross to superbly nod the ball past Portland keeper Troy Perkins to even things up in California. The goal is Gordon's first goal for the Earthquakes after his trade from Toronto FC that saw two other Reds traded to San Jose in mid-July.
The Portland Timbers had delivered the first blow through the left foot of Kenny Cooper in the 23rd minute. A beautiful ball from Jeremy Hall sprang Jorge Perlaza free on the right side behind the Earthquakes' back line. The Colombian was then free to cross the ball to a wide-open Cooper who easily poked the ball past Jon Busch for his third goal of the season.
The visitors had several great chances in the 90th minute when Hall had two point blank chances that were bravely blocked by Beitashour and Brad Ring. The second rebound bounced out to Portland substitute Kalif Alhassan, but his shot also had a body thrown in front of it which resulted in a corner.
During the play, Hall believed the ball to have struck Beitashour in the arm while inside the area, but his protestations earned him a second yellow and his marching orders in the dying minutes of the game. Hall had previously been issued a caution for a hard foul in the 69th minute and the second yellow saw Portland finish the match reduced to 10 men.
Despite the short-term disadvantage, Portland played out the remainder of the game on level terms with San Jose and the two teams split the spoils with a point each.
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What did you think of the game? Did Hall deserve a red card? Should San Jose have won the game with all its possession?
