Portland faces Dallas for second time this season (Jun 10, 2017)
The Portland Timbers and FC Dallas were at one time the hottest teams in Major League Soccer, but they had to snap winless streaks last week to get back on the right track in advance of Saturday's match against each other at Portland.
Portland snapped a five-match winless stretch by defeating San Jose 2-0, and Dallas got a first-half hat trick from Roland Lamah to beat Real Salt Lake 6-2, ending a streak of four matches without a victory.
"It felt good," Lamah said of his first career hat trick, achieved in the first 31 minutes of the half. "But the most important thing is three points (for the win). Personally, I feel good for the future games. The league is long, and I have to work every game."
Saturday's match will be the second meeting between the teams this season. Portland held a late 2-1 lead on the road before Tesho Akindele scored in the 80th minute to give Dallas a 2-2 draw on April 29.
Both sides are without many key players this time around because of international duty and injury.
Portland is in a particularly difficult stretch, playing five matches in two weeks with a skeleton roster. The Timbers have significant losses in their midfield with Darlington Nagbe (Costa Rica) and David Guzman (United States) both missing Saturday's match while away on international duty.
Diego Valeri is slated to play, however, after missing the first match against Dallas due to injury. He has eight goals and four assists in 12 matches this season.
"Diego looked sharp again," Portland coach Caleb Porter said. "A couple of games back from injury, I think it took him a little bit just to get into a rhythm. But certainly this game, he was back to doing what he does: scoring goals and creating chances for us."
FC Dallas will be without regulars Kellyn Acosta (United States), Matt Hedges (United States), Maynor Figueroa (Honduras) and Akindele (Canada) because of international duty and will be missing star Walker Zimmerman because of a left MCL strain.
Acosta, Hedges and Zimmerman did not play in last week's rout over Real Salt Lake.
Mauro Diaz continued his comeback from a torn Achilles' tendon he suffered last October, coming off the bench to make his second appearance in as many weeks. He played 29 minutes, recording an assist on Dallas' final goal.
FC Dallas' loss at Chicago on May 25 snapped an eight-match road unbeaten streak. The 2-1 defeat was only the second time the team has allowed multiple goals in its last 11 away matches.
Portland enters Saturday's match on a five-match winless streak against FC Dallas (0-4-1), but the Timbers have lost just once in their last 12 regular-season home games. They are 9-1-2 and have outscored their opponents 26-10 in that span.
