It was a big night at Providence Park, where the Loons took on a Timbers side celebrating 50 years of Portland soccer. Sixty or so Timbers alumni were in attendance, and with Phil Neville’s boys losing three of their last four games, there was a hunger in their play that lent itself to some serious physicality on the pitch.

Minnesota, coming off a tight loss to LAFC earlier in the week and having played five matches in just 16 days, started off with some rotation, giving Michael Boxall a break and starting Morris Duggan on the backline. Coach Ramsay opted to play a 5-4-1 with Tani Oluwaseyi up front, saving Wil Trapp for the second half and reserving Kelvin Yeboah for an impact substitution during crunch time. With first-place San Diego and second-place Vancouver battling it out at the same time in California, the potential for the Loons to climb to the top of the table in the West was there if all the cards lined up. How’s that for motivation?

It was a tense, scoreless first half, with valiant efforts to put one in the net by Bongokuhle Hlongwane, Joaquín Pereyra, and Joseph Rosales that came up short. Pereyra boldly shot from his free kick position about 35 yards from goal, eliciting a great save from Portland keeper Maxime Crépeau. Minnesota was hopeful when a penalty was called on a David Ayala handball in the 35th minute, but after video review, the PK was waived off after it was determined that a shove by Duggan led to the Portland violation. It was back to the rapid back-and-forth of two teams desperate to grab a lead before the half.

Nicolás Romero picked up his sixth yellow card of the season in the 39’, taking him out of the lineup for next Saturday’s road match against St. Louis CITY. Within five minutes, a pair of yellows were issued to Portland’s Ariel Lassiter and Minnesota’s Carlos Harvey. A late Minnesota throw-in by Rosales turned into a quick counter from the Timbers, with Lassiter powering up the right side and flicking the ball to a waiting Felipe Mora. Dayne St. Clair was ready, redirecting the shot over the net in a save that ended the half on a nil-nil scoreline.

Ramsay started the second half with Boxall and Trapp in for Romero and Harvey, and Neville’s side put Gage Guerra in for Lassiter 10 minutes in. An absolutely chaotic 60 seconds saw Duggan and St. Clair shut down a Timbers opportunity with some great defending, and in a matter of seconds, Pereyra was on the other side of the field trying to get the ball to Hlongwane for a shot. Another rapid-fire turnover had Guerra getting up the right side, ending up in a 61st-minute corner for the Timbers that failed to generate more than a few seconds of play.

Anthony Markanich came in for Hlongwane with half an hour left on the clock. Pereyra picked up a yellow shortly after, allowing a 66th-minute free kick for the home side. Moreno curved the ball around the wall, but St. Clair scooped it up without hesitation. Oluwaseyi created fantastic opportunities both before and after Yeboah swapped in for Pereyra for a critical last 20 minutes, but the Loons’ attack wasn’t quite able to convert against an unforgiving Portland defense.

The godfather of the Timbers, Diego Chará, arrived in a pair of 74th-minute subs for Portland, followed by Owen Gene relieving a limping Rosales in Minnesota’s final change of the night. With the time in the second half dwindling, Minnesota needed to do what they did best: lull the opposition into a false sense of security with low possession, then destroy on a set piece. And that they did.

A corner from Julian Gressel was redirected out of the box, but he was right there and ready to send it back in, where Markanich headed it past Crépeau to put the Loons up 0-1 with his sixth goal of the season. The rest of the match was chance after chance, free kick after free kick, save after save, in a nail-biting fight to the finish.

With just five minutes left, Omir Fernández came on for Christhian Paredes. The home side grew desperate as they approached their third consecutive loss. The substitution paid off in stoppage time, when Mosquera perfectly delivered a ball for Fernández to score in close quarters just minutes before the final whistle, blowing the roof off Providence Park and helping the home side steal a result late.

Both teams took home a point tonight, but some critical questions remain for Minnesota as the transfer window approaches and clubs battle for home playoff spots in the West.

The Loons are good at leaning into their strengths, but may need to diversify the way they generate goals in order to pull one over on teams that, by now, know exactly how Minnesota operates. Adding enough depth to be able to show the same dominance in multiple formations and finding some ways to consistently create in the midfield are the last pieces of the puzzle for the third-in-the-West club.

Gene showed some serious promise finding connections from the midfield, and we know that the likes of Pereyra and Lod can distribute. Now it’s a matter of making sure we can capitalize on those opportunities. A point is a point, particularly in a tough road environment, but as the Loons enter even more summer schedule congestion with Leagues Cup on the horizon, strength in variety is going to be more critical than ever.