Category: San Francisco Soccer

Real Salt Lake have been heavily boosted by the news

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Real Salt Lake have been heavily boosted by the news that forward Joao Plata is set to make his return from a long-term injury in the next couple of matches.

Plata has missed the start of the season due to an injury suffered during the pre-season. He is one of quality players in the team and his absence has definitely been telling on the results. Real Salt Lake have been struggling for form and consistency throughout the season and they cannot wait for the return ofPlata. The team are eighth in the table after the most recent 4-1 defeat against Montréal Impact.

The absence of the star forward has seen the team score only 10 goals in the opening 11 matches of the campaign. Last season,Plata alone scored 13 goals and he also had a hand in six others directly. One can expect a repeat of such similar performances this season from the 23-year-old. The metatarsal injury is unlikely to have affected his quality. Despite this, it would be unwise to expect great things from the player in the opening few matches after his return. Meanwhile, head coach Jeff Cassar refused to say anything concrete about the return of his star striker. Continue reading “Real Salt Lake have been heavily boosted by the news”

Portland Timbers produced a complete performance

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Portland Timbers produced a complete performance to register the first victory of the season against FC Dallas.

The club had managed only a couple of draws and defeats up until now. They are not expected to get a win against Dallas, who have made a strong start to the season. When Akindele came up with the equaliser just six minutes after Borchers had given the lead for Portland Timbers, it looked like the same story once again for the home team. This was not the case after an inspired second-half performance saw them register a first win of the campaign.

Despite not having won a single match until now, Portland Timbers have moved into the play-off places with this victory. They have jumped above the likes of San Jose and Houston Dynamo. Manager Caleb Porter was extremely satisfied with the performance in all areas of the pitch. Dallas have a direct style of play and they have so far been able to take advantage of the explosive speed within Fabian Castillo.Porter appears to have targeted Castillo as the opposition’s major threat and negating this advantage has helped them get this victory according to the manager. Without the threat fromCastillo, Dallas could only manage three shots on target. Continue reading “Portland Timbers produced a complete performance”