PORTLAND, Oregon -- Portland Timbers manager Gio Savarese said his side was "fantastic" in the first leg of the Western Conference finals against Sporting Kansas City, even as Portland was held to a 0-0 draw.
The Timbers outshot SKC 14-9 and had a 6-1 edge in terms of shots on goal. Portland even managed to hit the woodwork on Jorge Villafana's sixth minute effort, but couldn't find a way past goalkeeper Tim Melia and the rest of the SKC defense.
"They battled the entire match, they put their hearts in," Savarese said about the Timbers. "We showed quality, we kept the ball, we created chances. One, I even jumped when we hit the post. I thought it was in. But today it didn't want to go in."
The Timbers were especially dominant in the first half, and came close to scoring on several opportunities.
"We were able to pressure them quick, we created a lot of problems, we created good chances, but in some moments maybe we needed an extra player coming inside the box," Savarese said. "In some moments maybe the cross could have come in more lower than higher, so just little things that maybe could have been a little bit better that we will look into it and then we will plan accordingly for Thursday which will be another very difficult game."
In the second half, the visitors applied more pressure, and Johnny Russell had a clear look at goal, only to fire his 47th minute effort over the bar. The Timbers' David Guzman later had an apparent goal ruled out for offside. Savarese indicated that only small tweaks to the attack are needed ahead of the second leg on Thursday in Kansas City.
"We have to evaluate maybe some movements, maybe some things more that we can do," he said. "Just for example, there was a cross in the second half that Jeremy [Ebobisse] jumped but maybe there was nobody in the second post getting into that space. So little things we can analyze, but overall the guys performed very well, and it just was a little bit unlucky for us not to find a goal."
The Timbers suffered a blow in the 19th minute when center-back Larrys Mabiala suffered a lower leg injury. Savarese didn't want to speculate on the severity of the problem though he did say that the defender was being evaluated by doctors. Bill Tuiloma played in Mabiala's stead and acquitted himself well over the course of the match.
"I thought [Tuiloma] came in with the right mentality, did everything the right way, and unfortunately almost could have had a goal right there, great save by [SKC keeper Tim] Melia," Savarese said. "But I thought he played very, very well."
Savarese was asked what kind of pressure the result puts on his team given that it didn't win at home, but the Portland manager stated that he doesn't look at Thursday's second leg in those terms.
"We have to go there with the mentality that it is one game, like it is in the regular season," he said. "And we have to go there to try get a win. Prepare the plan, prepare the players to make sure that we are there, recover the guys that today were not available, and then make sure that we go there to win."