If there was relegation then FC Dallas visiting the Portland Timbers would have been a great match with a ton on the line. Instead it was a match with nothing on the line that was only played because the schedule required it.* For most of the contest, it looked very much like two teams with nothing on the line, but there were a few moments of note. Dallas scored, Zach Loyd got sent off and Portland equalized, sending the match to a 1-1 draw that means very little.
Portland Timbers Vs. FC Dallas, 2012 MLS: If Only There Was Relegation
* This is not a complaint about MLS not having relegation. It will not have relegation any time soon and that is fine. This is a complaint that both of these teams are awful.
Brek Shea, starting again after dealing with behavior problems that forced Schellas Hyndman to bench him, made his impact early on and created Dallas' first goal. The winger got free down the left in the 51st minute and hit a perfect cross for Scott Sealy, who was waiting right in front of goal. it didn't have to be a perfect cross because he was completely unmarked* so he just tapped it in and Dallas was in front.
* That isn’t a mistake. He was completely unmarked right in the middle of the box.
The problem for Dallas came the following minute when Loyd was shown a yellow card for a late tackle, his second yellow of the match. The defender was sent off and Portland had nearly 30 minutes to drag themselves out of their grave.
Finally, with 11 minutes to go, Jack Jewsbury dug the Timbers up. He hit a great volley off of a Kevin Hartman punch to find the back of the net and lift Portland to purgatory, where Dallas was waiting for them.
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