MLS is Back Tournament Final

The MLS is Back Tournament Final, known as the MLS is Back Tournament Final presented by Wells Fargo for sponsorship reasons, was a soccer match held on August 11, 2020 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Florida. It was the final match of the MLS is Back Tournament, a competition marking the resumption of the 2020 Major League Soccer season following the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The match was played behind closed doors due to the pandemic and was broadcast on ESPN beginning at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.[3]

MLS is Back Tournament Final
EventMLS is Back Tournament
Portland Timbers Orlando City SC
2 1
DateAugust 11, 2020 (2020-08-11)
VenueESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Bay Lake, Florida, US
Man of the MatchDiego Valeri (Portland Timbers)[1]
RefereeIsmail Elfath[2]
Attendance0 (behind closed doors)

Portland Timbers won the match 2–1 to win the MLS is Back Tournament and were presented the trophy after the game. As winners, Portland received $300,000 in prize money and also earned a spot in the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League. They qualified for the United States' third berth, replacing the 2020 MLS Eastern or Western Conference regular season champions which are not the Supporters' Shield champions.[4][5]

The match was the first MLS final refereed by a woman, with Kathryn Nesbitt acting as an Assistant Referee.

Road to the final
Further information: MLS is Back Tournament
Portland Timbers Round Orlando City SC
Opponents Results Group stage Opponents Results
LA Galaxy 2–1 Match 1 Inter Miami CF 2–1
Houston Dynamo 2–1 Match 2 New York City FC 3–1
Los Angeles FC 2–2 Match 3 Philadelphia Union 1–1
Group F winners
Pos Team Pld Pts
1 Portland Timbers 3 7
2 Los Angeles FC 3 5
3 Houston Dynamo 3 2
4 LA Galaxy 3 1
Source: MLS
 Final standings Group A winners
Pos Team Pld Pts
1 Orlando City SC (H) 3 7
2 Philadelphia Union 3 7
3 New York City FC 3 3
4 Inter Miami CF 3 0
Source: MLS
(H) Host.
Opponents Results Knockout stage Opponents Results
FC Cincinnati 1–1 (4–2 p) Round of 16 Montreal Impact 1–0
New York City FC 3–1 Quarter-finals Los Angeles FC 1–1 (5–4 p)
Philadelphia Union 2–1 Semi-finals Minnesota United FC 3–1

Match

Portland played in a defensive posture for much of the game, allowing Orlando 64% of the possession but not letting them get into good shooting positions.[6][7] In the 27th minute Portland scored first, with Larrys Mabiala scoring a header from a free kick by Diego Valeri. Orlando responded with a goal 12 minutes later via a move to the end-line by Nani and a pass to the near post that Mauricio Pereyra finished. Portland scored again about 3/4 of the way through the game; Valeri sent a corner kick to Eryk Williamson, who controlled the ball and sent it toward goal, where Jeremy Ebobisse redirected it to Dario Župarić for a tap-in through Nani's legs. Both of Portland's goals were scored by center backs. The game opened up after that, with Orlando committing more players forward in an attempt to level the score, but Portland's defense continued to hold them off until the final whistle. The game finished with Orlando having only one shot on goal – namely their goal – while Portland had six.[7]

Details
Portland Timbers2–1Orlando City SC
 Report
Attendance: 0 (behind closed doors)
Referee: Ismail Elfath
Portland Timbers
Orlando City SC
GK12 Steve Clark
RB15 Chris Duvall
CB33 Larrys Mabiala 44'
CB13 Dario Župarić
LB4 Jorge Villafaña 73'
CM21 Diego Chará 70'
CM30 Eryk Williamson
RW44 Marvin Loría 67'
AM8 Diego Valeri (c) 90+1'
LW10 Sebastián Blanco 89'
CF17 Jeremy Ebobisse 67'
Substitutes:
GK1 Jeff Attinella
GK31 Aljaž Ivačič
DF18 Julio Cascante
DF25 Bill Tuiloma 90+1'
DF28 Pablo Bonilla
DF32 Marco Farfan
MF19 Tomás Conechny
MF22 Cristhian Paredes
MF40 Renzo Zambrano
FW7 Andy Polo 67'
FW9 Felipe Mora 89'
FW11 Jarosław Niezgoda 67'
Manager:
Giovanni Savarese
GK1 Pedro Gallese
RB2 Ruan 85' 87'
CB25 Antônio Carlos 47'
CB6 Robin Jansson
LB4 João Moutinho 63'
CM20 Oriol Rosell 79'
CM8 Jhegson Méndez 71'
RW9 Chris Mueller 71'
AM10 Mauricio Pereyra
LW17 Nani (c) 73'
CF13 Tesho Akindele 78'
Substitutes:
GK23 Brian Rowe
DF3 Alex DeJohn
DF15 Rodrigo Schlegel
DF24 Kyle Smith 87'
DF27 Kamal Miller
MF11 Júnior Urso 71'
MF21 Andrés Perea
MF34 Joey DeZart
MF77 Robinho
FW18 Daryl Dike 78'
FW19 Benji Michel 71'
FW29 Santiago Patiño 79'
Manager:
Óscar Pareja

Man of the Match:
Diego Valeri (Portland Timbers)[1]

Assistant referees:[2]
Kathryn Nesbitt
Kyle Atkins
Fourth official:[2]
Joe Dickerson
Video assistant referee:[2]
Allen Chapman
Assistant video assistant referee:[2]
Logan Brown

Match rules[8]

  • 90 minutes, with no extra time.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores level.
  • Maximum of twelve named substitutes.
  • Maximum of five substitutions.[note 1]

Broadcasting

The match was broadcast on ESPN.

Notes
  1. Each team was given only three opportunities to make substitutions, excluding substitutions made at half-time.

References
  1. Sigal, Jonathan (August 11, 2020). "Portland Timbers 2, Orlando City 1 | MLS is Back Tournament Final Recap". Major League Soccer. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  2. "MLS is Back final referee crew announced, with first woman to work MLS final". Major League Soccer. August 9, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  3. "Full match schedule and TV info unveiled for MLS is Back Tournament". MLSSoccer.com. Major League Soccer. June 24, 2020. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  4. "MLS is Back Tournament winner will qualify for 2021 Concacaf Champions League". MLSSoccer.com. Major League Soccer. June 10, 2020.
  5. "Concacaf Statement – Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League qualification for the winner of MLS Is Back tournament". Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football. June 10, 2020.
  6. Sigal, Jonathan (August 11, 2020). "Portland Timbers 2, Orlando City SC 1 | MLS is Back Tournament Final Recap". MLS Soccer. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  7. "Portland Timbers vs. Orlando City FC: Stats". MLS Soccer. August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  8. "MLS is Back Tournament Competition Guidelines". Major League Soccer. June 10, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.