MATCH RECAP | Portland Timbers 2, Sporting Kansas City 1

PORTLAND, Ore. – An 80 percent increased capacity crowd at Providence Park witnessed first half goals from Dairon Asprilla and Marvin Loría as the Portland Timbers came from behind to defeat Sporting Kansas City 2-1 Saturday evening.

• MATCHCENTER: Stats

Match Moments

3' - CHANCE (POR) - Portland almost scored an early goal as midfielder Diego Valeri split the KC defense with a pass to Dairon Asprilla on the left wing. Asprilla then sent in a low cross towards Jeremy Ebobisse but the forward's close-in shot was saved by Sporting goalkeeper Tim Melia.

8' - SAVE (POR) - A hard shot from Sporting was blocked by Timbers defender Claudio Bravo but the ball skied up and over forcing Portland goalkeeper Steve Clark to race back and tip it over the bar.

28' - GOAL (SKC) - Sporting went up 1-0 in the 28th minute when a deflected pass across the box fell to KC defender Jaylin Lindsey who shot it into the right-hand side of the Timbers net.

36' - GOAL (POR) - Eight minutes later, Portland scored an equalizer. Valeri served in a free kick from near the right sideline that sailed to Asprilla on the far edge of the 18-yard box. The midfielder's initial shot was blocked by a Sporting player but Asprilla quickly collected the rebound and tucked his follow-up strike inside the left post to even the score at 1-1.

45+1' - GOAL (POR) - Moments before the half, Portland went up 2-1 as Valeri threaded a pass into the box to an onrushing Marvin Loría. Sporting's Melia came off his line to block Loría's shot but the ball deflected back towards a KC defender and then back to Loría who cleaned up the loose ball and tapped it into the net.

47' - SAVE (POR) - Portland's Bravo raced in to block a KC attempt. Sporting midfielder Johnny Russell then shot the rebound on frame forcing a kick save from Clark before the Timbers defense cleared their lines.

90+2 - MISS (SKC) - With Sporting threatening, a Russell cross found forward Alan Pulido on the far post but his shot hit the side netting.

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The Portland Timbers travel Wednesday to play the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Stadium on June 23. Kickoff is 5:30pm PT on ROOT SPORTS.

Portland Timbers (4-4-0, 12pts) vs. Sporting Kansas City (5-2-2, 17pts)
June 19, 2021 – Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)

Goals by Half                            1          2           F
Sporting Kansas City                 1           0          1
Portland Timbers                       2           0          2

Scoring Summary:
SKC: Lindsey, 28
POR: Asprilla, 36
POR: Loría, 45+1

Misconduct Summary:
POR: Zuparic (caution), 38
SKC: Fontas (caution), 69
SKC: Espinoza (caution), 74
SKC: Sanchez (caution), 83
POR: Zambrano (caution), 87

Lineups:
POR: GK Clark, D Van Rankin, D Tuiloma, D Zuparic, D Bravo, M D. Chara, M Williamson, M Loria (Mabiala, 69), M Asprilla (Zambrano, 58), M Valeri © (Blanco, 80), F Ebobisse

Substitutes Not Used: GK Sulte, GK Ivacic, D Bonilla, D McGraw, M Bodily, M Fochive

TOTAL SHOTS: 7 (Asprilla, Bravo 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (three players tied, 1); FOULS: 6 (Williamson, 2); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 2

SKC: GK Melia, D Lindsey, D Sanchez, D Fontas, D Martins, M Busio, M Espinoza (Shelton, 80), M Hernandez, F Russell©, F Pulido, Daniel Salloi

Substitutes Not Used: GK Pulskamp, D Dia, D Puncec, D Rad, M Duke, M Barber, F Harris

TOTAL SHOTS: 19 (Pulido, 6); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Russell, 2); FOULS: 10 (Pulido, 3); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 10; SAVES: 1

Referee: Alan Kelly
Assistant Referees: Chris Elliot, Ryan Graves
Fourth Official: Lukas Szpala
VAR: Younes Marrakchi
Weather: Mostly sunny, 75 degrees

All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
Notes

• Marvin Loría tallied his second goal of the season and fifth career goal across all competitions.
• Dairon Asprilla scored his second goal of the season and 15th career goal across all competitions. 
• Sebastián Blanco made his first appearance since exiting the match due to an ACL tear on Sept. 6, 2020.
• Steve Clark made his first start and appearance since April 18.
• Diego Chara made his first start and appearance since May 9.
• Larrys Mabiala made his first appearance since May 9.
• Aljaz Ivacic was available as a sub for the first time of the 2021 season after undergoing surgery on April 1.
• George Fochive was available on the bench for the first time since signing with the club on June 8. 
• Portland extended its unbeaten streak against Kansas City across all competitions to five.
• Claudio Bravo is the only player to start all eight regular season matches, and all 11 matches across all competitions for the Timbers in 2021.
• Portland has scored 16 goals in 16 regular-season matches against Sporting Kansas City with 14 different players scoring a goal for the Timbers, including two goals each from Dairon Asprilla and Diego Valeri.
• Diego Valeri is sitting on 99 all-time career goals.
• Providence Park opened capacity to 80%, the most fans at a Timbers match since March 8, 2020.