TORONTO - The Portland Timbers lost 1-0 to Toronto FC at BMO Field on Saturday. TFC's Sebastian Giovinco had the lone goal early in the first half as he scored from distance in the fifth minute.
Giovinco struck with an outside-the-foot strike that curved and dipped perfectly, past the outstretched fingers of Timbers goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey, giving Toronto FC a lead. After the goal, Giovinco continued to torment the Portland back line, nearly scoring on two occasions, one blocked by his own teammate, Jonathan Osorio.
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Portland did manage to get the ball into the box at times, though Diego Valeri went down with injury in the 25th minute and was replaced by Gaston Fernandez.
The Timbers began attacking down the middle before swapping out wide in the second half. Kwarasey was stellar in support and was credited with five saves on the day. He stopped Warren Creavalle after he had run down the left wing on the 80-minute mark and forced a big save. Kwarasey also stopped second-half chances from Giovinco and Michael Bradley
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Portland carried the majority of play in the second half but were unable to find an equalizer. TFC goalkeeper Chris Konopka made an error in judgement coming out late in the game, bringing down Maximiliano Urruti in the box, but no penalty was called. A few minutes later, Urruti nearly bounced on a rebound from a long-distance drive by Dairon Asprilla.
The game marked Portland defender's Nat Borchers' 300th career MLS game. He is only the 29th player in the history of Major League Soccer to reach the milestone.
Portland Timbers (3-5-4, 13pts) at Toronto FC (4-5-1, 13pts)
May 23, 2015 – BMO Field (Toronto)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
Portland Timbers 0 0 0
Toronto FC 1 0 1
Scoring Summary
TOR: Giovinco (Moore, Bradley), 5
Misconduct Summary
TOR: Morgan (Caution), 90
POR: Chara (Caution), 90+2
Lineups & Stats
POR: GK Kwarasey, D Powell, D Borchers, D Ridgewell ©, D Villafaña (Urruti, 80), M Chara, M Jewsbury, M Nagbe, M Valeri (Fernández, 25), M Wallace (Asprilla, 60), F Adi
Substitutes Not Used: GK Weber, D Paparatto, M Johnson, M Yartey
TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Three players tied, 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Five players tied, 1); FOULS: 7 (Chara, 4); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 5
TOR: GK Konopka, D Morrow, D Perquis, D Zavaleta, D Morgan, M Warner (Creavalle, 46), M Cheyrou, M Osorio (Hagglund, 83), M Bradley ©, F Giovinco, F Moore (Jackson, 64)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Roberts, M Chapman, M Lovitz, F Hamilton
TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Giovinco, 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Giovinco, 3); FOULS: 17 (Cheyrou, Giovinco, 3); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 10; SAVES: 5
Referee: Jorge Gonzalez
Assistant Referees: Brian Dunn, Kathryn Nesbitt
4th Official: Alex Chilowicz
Attendance: 23,569
Time of Game: 1:51
Weather: Sunny, 60 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
