Portland, OR – Gavin Wilkinson's woes as interim head coach of the Portland Timbers continued on Saturday as the club suffered its fifth straight league defeat with a 1-0 loss to Chivas USA at Jeld-Wen Field.
Danny Califf provided the killer blow to the Timbers, scoring in the 68th minute to see Chivas (8-8-5) take nine points from its three games against Portland.
Since Wilkinson took over for John Spencer as head coach, Portland (5-13-4) has lost four in a row by a combined score of 12-3. The club remains tied with Toronto FC for last in MLS with 19 points apiece.
Portland had the better running of most of the match as Kris Boyd led the way with six shots, three of which were on goal.
But Califf helped the Goats steal the victory, nodding home a set piece delivery from Ben Zemanski midway through the second half for his first goal of the season.
The visitors held on for the final 22 minutes, improving to 29 points to remain just four points shy of a playoff spot with two games in hand.
Portland returns to action on August 5 with a massive clash against FC Dallas at Jeld-Wen. Chivas will enjoy a week off, picking up again on August 12 with the latest installment of the Super Clasico, taking on the Los Angeles Galaxy as the home team.
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