LOS ANGELES – Powered by a late Jeremy Ebobisse goal, the Portland Timbers advanced to the 2019 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinals for the second time in their history with a 1-0 win over Los Angeles FC in the tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday night at Banc of California Stadium.
The Timbers defense held the home side to one shot on goal for the clean sheet – the team's third in a row and fifth in its past six games across all competitions.
- MATCHCENTER: Stats
- MATCHCENTER: Boxscore and Chalkboard
Portland will now face Minnesota United FC in the semifinals on Aug. 7, 2019 with the time and location to be announced. A draw to determine the Semifinal hosts and the priority order for hosting the Final will take place tomorrow (July 11) at 11am PT and can be seen live via U.S. Soccer’s Twitter page @opencup and at usopencup.com, the official tournament website. Visit USsoccer.com for more information.
Match Moments
31' - CHANCE (POR) - On a Portland corner, the ball fell to Timbers defender Larrys Mabiala at the penalty spot. His shot was re-directed by forward Brian Fernandez but LAFC goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega made a diving save.
32' - CHANCE (POR) - On another corner kick moments later, midfielder Marvin Loría curled an outswinging ball into Mabiala who thumped a header on frame only to be denied again by Sisniega.
36' - CHANCE (POR) - As the Timbers pushed forward, midfielder Sebastían Blanco sprung Loría on the break. The Costa Rican beat his defender, forced Sisniega off his line but pushed his shot wide of the left post.
72' - CHANCE (POR) - After some strong defense, the Timbers raced out on the break with Fernandez side-footing a ball to Blanco on the run. Fernandez continued to sprint down field whereupon he received a ball back from Blanco in the box and shot only to have LAFC defender Jordan Harvey slide in to block it away.
84' - GOAL (POR) - Portland finally got on the board late as Fernandez, going 1v1 with Harvey, sent a ball forward that deflected off the LAFC defender and right into the path of Jeremy Ebobisse. The Timbers attacker spun and fired a shot that went past Sisniega for a 1-0 lead.
90+6' - BLOCK (POR) - In the dying moments of the match, LAFC's Adama Diomande headed a ball up to Diego Rossi on the wing. Rossi chipped it up to Carlos Vela who hit an acrobatic bicycle kick that Timbers defender Zarek Valentin calmly blocked away into safety to preserve the win.
-----------
The Portland Timbers return to MLS regular season play Saturday when they host the Colorado Rapids at Providence Park on July 13 (8pm PT, FOX 12 PLUS (KPDX)).
Portland Timbers vs. Los Angeles FC (Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup)
July 10, 2019 – Banc of California Stadium (Los Angeles)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
Portland Timbers 0 1 1
Los Angeles FC 0 0 0
Scoring Summary:
POR: Ebobisse, 84
Misconduct Summary:
POR: Blanco (caution), 34
LAFC: Segura (caution), 62
POR: Mabiala (caution), 66
POR: Moreira (caution), 68
LAFC: Diomande (caution), 70
Lineups:
POR: GK Clark, D Moreira, D Mabiala, D Cascante, D Valentin, M Paredes, M Chara ©, M Loría (Valeri, 74), M Blanco (Flores, 90+2), M Ebobisse (Asprilla, 85), F Fernandez
Substitutes Not Used: GK McIntosh, D Dielna, D Farfan, M Conechny
TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Four players tied, 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Mabiala, 2); FOULS: 21 (Mabiala, Valeri 3); OFFSIDES:2; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: 1
LAFC: GK Sisniega, D Beitashour (Blackmon, 78), D Zimmerman, D Segura, D Harvey (El-Munir, 87), M Kaye, M Atuesta, M Blessing, F Vela ©, F Ramirez (Diomande, 64), F Rossi
Substitutes Not Used: GK Miller, M Pérez, M Nguyen, F Zelaya
TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Kaye, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 1 (Diomande, 1); FOULS: 10 (Atuesta, 3); OFFSIDES:2; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: 4
Referee: Alan Kelly
Assistant Referees: Benjamin Hall-Volpenhein, Diego Blas
4th Official: Michael Radchuk
Attendance: 18.947
Weather: Clear, 71 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
