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 broadcast on ESPN beginning at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
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.
The match was the first MLS final refereed by a woman, with Kathryn Nesbitt acting as an Assistant Referee.
Road to the final
Portland TimbersRoundOrlando City SCOpponentsResultsGroup stageOpponentsResultsLA Galaxy2–1Match 1Inter Miami CF2–1Houston Dynamo2–1Match 2New York City FC3–1Los Angeles FC2–2Match 3Philadelphia Union1–1Group F winnersFinal standingsGroup A winnersOpponentsResultsKnockout stageOpponentsResultsFC Cincinnati1–1 Round of 16Montreal Impact1–0New York City FC3–1Quarter-finalsLos Angeles FC1–1 Philadelphia Union2–1Semi-finalsMinnesota United FC3–1
Match Summary 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. 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.
Details
GK 12 Steve ClarkRB 15 Chris DuvallCB 33 Larrys Mabiala CB 13 Dario ŽuparićLB 4 Jorge Villafaña CM 21 Diego Chará CM 30 Eryk WilliamsonRW 44 Marvin Loría AM 8 Diego Valeri (c) LW 10 Sebastián Blanco CF 17 Jeremy Ebobisse Substitutes:GK 1 Jeff AttinellaGK 31 Aljaž IvačičDF 18 Julio CascanteDF 25 Bill Tuiloma DF 28 Pablo BonillaDF 32 Marco FarfanMF 19 Tomás ConechnyMF 22 Cristhian ParedesMF 40 Renzo ZambranoFW 7 Andy Polo FW 9 Felipe Mora FW 11 Jarosław Niezgoda Manager: Giovanni Savarese GK 1 Pedro GalleseRB 2 Ruan CB 25 Antônio Carlos CB 6 Robin JanssonLB 4 João Moutinho CM 20 Oriol Rosell CM 8 Sebas Méndez RW 9 Chris Mueller AM 10 Mauricio PereyraLW 17 Nani (c) CF 13 Tesho Akindele Substitutes:GK 23 Brian RoweDF 3 Alex DeJohnDF 15 Rodrigo SchlegelDF 24 Kyle Smith DF 27 Kamal MillerMF 11 Júnior Urso MF 21 Andrés PereaMF 34 Joey DeZartMF 77 RobinhoFW 18 Daryl Dike FW 19 Benji Michel FW 29 Santiago Patiño Manager: Óscar Pareja
Man of the Match: Diego Valeri (Portland Timbers)
Assistant referees: Kathryn Nesbitt Kyle Atkins Fourth official: Joe Dickerson Video assistant referee: Allen Chapman Assistant video assistant referee: Logan BrownMatch rules 90 minutes, with no extra time. Penalty shoot-out if scores level. Maximum of twelve named substitutes. Maximum of five substitutions.
Statistical comparision +Team-to-team comparisonStatisticPortland TimbersOrlando City SCShots 13 14 Shots on target 6 1Saves 0 4Clearances 19 11Ball possession 36% 64%Passes 284 503Corner kicks 5 3Fouls committed 15 17Offsides 1 1Yellow cards 3 4Red cards 0 0
Broadcasting The match was broadcast on ESPN.
Notes
References
External links MLS is Back Tournament