Portland Timbers boss Marti Cifuentes has welcomed “internal competition” ahead of their trip to face FC Dallas this weekend.
The topic came up for Cifuentes after Ronald Hernandez made his Portland debut in their 2-2 draw with St. Louis City SC last time out.
Hernandez, who joined from Atlanta United, replaced Eric Miller in the 65th minute and made a positive impact as the Timbers salvaged a late draw.
The 28-year-old full-back created two chances, a joint-second team-high, while also recording two interceptions and winning his only attempted tackle.
Cifuentes was pleased with Hernandez’s performance on debut and hopes his recent addition will create healthy competition.
“I’m very happy, and he’s very reliable,” Cifuentes said of Hernandez.
“I know Ronald as well from my time in Norway, actually. And yeah, he’s a good full-back.
“He knows the league; he knows the job. I think he did really well. So, it’s going to be good for the team.
“It’s good to have more options, different profiles and to have some internal competition. That is always healthy.”
A few frames worth reliving pic.twitter.com/o2jv4DOxIr
— Portland Timbers (@TimbersFC) September 10, 2026
The draw against St. Louis saw Portland remain eighth in the Western Conference, eight points behind upcoming opponents Dallas.
Dallas extended their unbeaten run in MLS to three games after a late 2-1 win over Minnesota United on Wednesday.
They are now just six points behind conference leaders Vancouver Whitecaps, who have a game in hand.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
FC Dallas – Santiago Moreno
Moreno’s match-winning goal on Wednesday was the 23rd MLS regular-season goal of his career.
It was just the second time that Moreno had netted as a substitute, with the other time being his first career regular-season goal, scored in May 2022 for Portland against Sporting Kansas City.
Portland Timbers – Kristoffer Velde
Velde scored twice on his 27th birthday on Wednesday, including a goal directly from a free-kick.
Velde is the second MLS player to score from a direct free-kick on his birthday since 2010, joining former Timbers player Diego Valeri, who did so on May 1, 2016.
MATCH PREDICTION: FC DALLAS WIN
Since the beginning of the 2021 season, Dallas have won consecutive regular-season matches 20 different times, including their current streak after victories over Sporting Kansas City and Minnesota.
Dallas have not won three straight regular-season matches since doing so in October and November 2020.
Portland’s draw with St. Louis was their 13th straight competitive match both scoring and conceding at least one goal. That is the second-longest such streak in Portland’s MLS history, after a 17-match run spanning the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
The home team is unbeaten in 19 straight regular-season meetings between these sides, with the last road league win in the series coming in April 2016 by Dallas at Portland.
The Timbers’ only ever win at Dallas was a 2–0 victory in October 2014.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
FC Dallas – 52.9%
Draw – 21.9%
Portland Timbers – 25.2%
