In a testy game, the Quakes and Timbers exchanged goals in the first half and both teams settled for a point in Portland, Oregon.
With the result, San Jose has now gone six games without a loss (5 ties and 1 win).
“We played a great game against a great opponent at a place where it is not easy to play,” said Earthquakes head coach Matias Almeyda. We are showing that character that we have always looked for.”
San Jose took the lead when a Christian Espinoza cross was not corralled by the Timbers keeper Steve Clark and the Quakes Javier Lopez tapped it in.
“That goal reflects our intentions,” explained Almeyda. “Those goals are always a prize. I think we’ve had similar instances in which we controlled the match but were just missing the finish that could have potentially won us the match tonight.”
Portland’s Felipe Mora tied the game off a corner kick right before the break.
Neither team scored in the second half, and several yellow cards were called late in the game. Two were earned by Portland’s Diego Chara, forcing his team to play down a man for the last few minutes of the game.
After a six-game stretch of games, with five on the road, San Jose returns home to face Los Angeles FC on Sunday.
“LAFC is a team that has defeated us many times,” noted Almeyda. “We can’t look at what they have been doing. We have to see what we can do against them.”
