How Portland competes when down a player – Equalizer Soccer

Photo Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

The Portland Thorns may not become harder to beat when they go down to 10 players, but they are about as tough a nut to crack as it gets for any opponent with a numerical advantage.

Last weekend, at home to Gotham, the Thorns found themselves down to 10 after Jayden Perry’s sending off at 74 minutes. Stoppage time included, that meant over 19 minutes up against one of the National Women’s Soccer League’s best teams. The score was 2-2, but Gotham looked dangerous and, with players like Rose Lavelle, Sam Kerr and Jaedyn Shaw on the field, were a decent bet to finish the job.

Instead, Gotham didn’t create much at all. They got one more shot away, comfortably blocked. Portland got one more away too, which hit the target. There were no further goals, and the match ended in a draw.

Earlier in this campaign, Portland welcomed their rivals, the Seattle Reign, to Providence Park. Cassandra Bogere was sent off after just nine minutes, and Portland played with 10 until Reyna Reyes was sent off in the 57th minute. Between those two red cards, however, they created better chances than Seattle, and scored two of them. They defended their lead and won 2-0.

Overall, Portland has played around one hour of soccer this season 10 versus 11. In that time, they have taken seven shots to their opponents’ combined nine; four on target to their opponents’ one, and produced an xG (expected goals) of 1.07 to their opponents’ 0.67.

Clearly, the Thorns have a pretty solid Plan B for these situations. It starts with a shift in formation.

Against both Gotham and Seattle, Portland went to a 4-3-2 defensive block with all nine outfielders involved. They kept their back four, kept their midfield three, but sacrificed wingers to put another player up top alongside the starting striker. This appears to be their basic approach when 10-v-11.