FC Dallas was moments away from their first shutout of the season when Portland Timbers newcomer Franck Boli scored his first MLS goal to tie the game 1-1.
The two sides traded second half goals between Bali and Facundo Quignon after struggling to create chances in the first half.
One of the best chances in the first half came in the 30th minute as Portland got a counterattack that saw Juan Mosquera got past Marco Farfan and then played a ball across the Dallas penalty box to Santiago Moreno. The Timbers’ attacker took a touch and then fired a shot that hit off the crossbar and out.
FC Dallas opened up the second half with a couple more chances as Alan Velasco took a short corner in the 61st minute with Paxton Pomykal. The pair did a quick give-and-go to put Velasco open outside the penalty box where he fired a shot that forced Timbers keeper Aljax Ivacic to make a save.
Dallas kept knocking on the door and finally found the breakthrough in the 74th minute as Quignon picked up an open ball in the penalty box off a bad clearance by a Portland defender. Quignon made one touch and fired a shot past Ivacic.
But it was Bali in stoppage time that allowed the Timbers back in this one. Diego Chara played a long ball up toward the penalty box that got played down Dairon Asprilla and Boli wasted no time by taking a strike on goal past keeper Maarten Paes.
Instant reaction: What a gut punch. Giving up that goal late is certainly something the club will have to look back on and figure out what is going on in the defense. Maybe Nico Estevez made a mistake by subbing a minute before the Bali goal, or maybe it was just a sign of issues in the defense that need to be addressed.
There is no getting around that as FC Dallas didn’t play their best on the night on either end of the field. It felt as though the team was more focused on continuing the 4-1 scores from the previous three meetings with the Timbers than actually executing the game plan to make that happen a fourth time.
Man of the match: Take your pick, the fans went with Nksoi Tafari in the stadium but you could make a slight case for Quignon scoring the lone Dallas goal too.
What’s next for FC Dallas: The club will go back out on the road in search of their first win away from Frisco next week when they head to Florida to face Inter Miami.
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