PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Timbers, led by Jeremy Ebobisse's first goal of the MLS season and an historic strike from Diego Valeri, downed the Colorado Rapids 2-0 Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 21,144 at Providence Park.
Timbers midfielder Sebastián Blanco contributed two assists while goalkeeper Steve Clark, making his first start of the campaign, made three saves and the team picked up their eighth clean sheet of 2018.
- MATCHCENTER: Stats
- MATCHCENTER: Boxscore and Chalkboard
Match Moments
2' - CHANCE (POR) - On a counter down the middle, Jeremy Ebobisse, Diego Valeri and Sebastián Blanco combined with some nice passing. The ball came back to Blanco and he blistered a swerving shot on target forcing Rapids goalkeeper Tim Howard to punch away.
5' - CHANCE (POR) - Moments later, Valeri came down the right channel, rounded his defender and took a low shot that Howard dove to push out for a corner.
29' - CHANCE (POR) - Portland defender Jorge Villafaña was released down the left side before he cut a ball back to the top of the box that Blanco hit just wide of the right post.
45' - GOAL (POR) - Portland went up 1-0 just before the half when Blanco stripped the ball from Colorado's Edgar Castillo deep in their end, carried into the box and skipped a pass to Ebobisse on the back post who tapped it in for his first MLS goal of the season.
61' - VIDEO REVIEW - Following a ball into the box for Colorado's Jack McBean, Portland goalkeeper Steve Clark came out to punch it away and collided with McBean. Referee Drew Fischer initially pointed to the spot for a penalty but upon video review, the call was reversed due to a foul committed by McBean just prior.
62' - SAVE (POR) - Colorado's Giles Barnes hit a hard shot from 35 yards out towards the upper 90 of the Portland net but Clark leapt high to his left to tip it over the bar.
65 - GOAL (POR) - The Timbers doubled their lead in the second half when Blanco darted down the left side all the way to the Rapids end line. He chipped a cross to the onrushing Valeri who headed it in for a 2-0 Portland lead. With the goal, Valeri became only the third player in MLS history to have double digit goals and assists across four different seasons.
90+2' - CHANCE (POR) - Portland forward Samuel Armenteros, who came on in the 75th minute, dribbled through the Colorado defense and took a sharp-angled shot that just missed the goal.
90+4' - SAVE (POR) - Clark helped preserve the clean sheet late in stoppage time when he jumped to tip over a hard shot from Colorado's Enzo Martinez.
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The Portland Timbers travel to Texas next week to face the Houston Dynamo on Saturday, Sept. 15. Kickoff is 5:30pm PT on FOX 12 PLUS (KPDX).
Portland Timbers (12-7-8, 44pts) vs. Colorado Rapids (6-14-6, 24pts)
Sept. 8, 2018 – Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
Colorado Rapids 0 0 0
Portland Timbers 1 1 2
Scoring Summary:
POR: Ebobisse (Blanco), 45
POR: Valeri (Blanco), 65
Misconduct Summary:
COL: Blomberg (caution), 43
POR: Armenteros (caution), 78
Lineups:
POR: GK Clark, D Valentin, D Mabiala, D Ridgewell, D Villafaña, M Chara, M Olum, M Polo (Conechny, 90), M Valeri ©, M Blanco, F Ebobisse (Armenteros, 75)
Substitutes Not Used: GK McIntosh, D Cascante, D Tuiloma, M Flores, M Conechny, F Melano
TOTAL SHOTS: 18 (Valeri, 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 8 (Polo, 3); FOULS: 8 (Chara, Ebobisse, 2); OFFSIDES: 4; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: 3
COL: GK Howard ©, D Castillo, D Smith, D Wilson, D Ford (Bassett, 71), M Price, M Serna, M Blomberg, M Gashi (Calvert, 55), F McBean (Martinez, 80), F Barnes
Substitutes Not Used: GK MacMath, D Wynne, M Hairston, M Hamilton
TOTAL SHOTS: 10 (Martinez, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Three players tied, 1); FOULS: 12 (Blomberg, 4); OFFSIDES: 14 CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: 6
Referee: Drew Fischer
Assistant Referees: Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho, Chris Wattam
4th Official: Alejandro Mariscal
VAR: David Gantar
Attendance: 21,144
Weather: Partly cloudy, 72 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
