PORTLAND, Ore. – Led by a goal and assist from Andy Polo, the Portland Timbers defeated Columbus Crew SC 3-2 Wednesday evening in front of a sellout crowd at Providence Park.
David Guzmán also scored for the Timbers while striker Samuel Armenteros' shot caused an own goal to benefit the home side. Portland goalkeeper Steve Clark made six saves in the match.
- MATCHCENTER: Stats
- MATCHCENTER: Boxscore and Chalkboard
Match Moments
7' - GOAL (CLB) - Crew SC scored first as Milton Valenzuela slid a pass across the face of goal to Niko Hansen who knocked it into the upper right corner for a 1-0 Columbus lead.
12' - SAVE (POR) - Columbus' Patrick Mullins was sprung through the middle on a through ball. In 1v1 against Steve Clark, the Portland goalkeeper palmed away the forward's shot.
17' - CHANCE (POR) - Portland, who was pressuring Columbus deep in their end, forced a turnover with Diego Chara finding Andy Polo near the top of the box. Polo's shot just skimmed over the top left corner.
18' - GOAL (POR) - The Timbers tied it up at 1-1 as Sebastián Blanco played a ball forward to Polo on the right side. With Zarek Valentin making a run in the right channle that froze the defense, Polo whipped in a cross to find an open David Guzmán near the penalty spot. Guzmán leapt and snapped a header into the bottom left cover of the net.
26' - SAVE (POR) - Columbus' Pedro Santos swerved a free kick from the right side past the wall towards the bottom right corner of goal but Clark dove to his left to parry it away.
36' - SAVE (POR) - The Crew's Artur curled a dangerous shot onto the Portland net that Clark jumped high to knock over the bar.
37' - GOAL (POR) - Portland took a 2-1 lead as Polo bolted down the right side on following a great ball forward from Blanco. Polo ran on to it, and headed it towards goal where a Crew defender tried to kick out only to have Polo pounce on his own rebound and karate kick it into the net. It was Polo's first career MLS goal.
49' - OWN GOAL (POR) - The Timbers came flying out of the gate in the second half as Valeri sent a ball foward to Chara on a counter. Chara cut the ball back and shot but the ball deflected high and out right to Samuel Armenteros. Armenteros collected the ball and took a sharp-angled shot that went off Crew defender Lalas Abubakar and in for a 3-1 Portland lead.
90+1' - SAVE (POR) - Clark came up big again when he dove to his left to knock away a dangerous free kick from Columbus' Mullins that had skipped past the Portland wall.
90+3' - GOAL (POR) - The Crew pulled a goal back in second half stoppage time to make it 3-2 when Hansen scored his second of the night off a cross from Conor Maloney.
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The Portland Timbers have a quick turnaround as they'll next travel to take on Minnesota United FC on Saturday, Sept. 22 at TCF Bank Stadium. Kickoff is 5pm PT on FOX 12 PLUS.
Full boxscore to follow.
Portland Timbers (13-8-8, 47pts) vs. Columbus Crew SC (12-9-8, 44pts)
Sept. 19, 2018 – Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
Columbus Crew SC 1 1 2
Portland Timbers 2 1 3
Scoring Summary:
CLB: Hansen (Valenzuela, Santos), 7
POR: Guzmán (Polo, Blanco), 18
POR: Polo, 37
POR: Own goal (Abubakar), 48
CLB: Hansen (Maloney, Sosa), 90+3
Misconduct Summary:
POR: Polo (caution), 10
POR: Guzmán (caution), 34
CLB: Sauro (caution), 45+1
CLB: Trapp (caution), 49
CLB: Maloney (caution), 85
Lineups:
POR: GK Clark, D Valentin, D Mabiala, D Ridgewell, D Villafaña, M Chara, M Guzmán, M Polo, M Valeri © (Melano, 90+1), M Blanco, F Armenteros (Ebobisse, 84)
Substitutes Not Used: GK McIntosh, D Cascante, D Powell, D Tuiloma, M Flores
TOTAL SHOTS: 12 (Polo, Valeri, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2 (Guzmán, Polo, 1); FOULS: 12 (Three players tied, 2); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 6
CLB: GK Steffen, D Valenzuela (Maloney, 62), D Abubakar, D Sauro, D Jimenez, M Trapp ©, M Artur (Argudo, 62), M Sosa, M Hansen, M Santos (Williams, 63), F Mullins
Substitutes Not Used: GK Kempin, M Meram, F Opoku, F Zardes
TOTAL SHOTS: 16 (Mullins, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 8 (Hansen, 3); FOULS: 8 (Sauro, 3); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 7; SAVES: 0
Referee: Ted Unkel
Assistant Referees: Frank Anderson, Eduardo Mariscal
4th Official: Sorin Stoica
VAR: Armando Villarreal
Attendance: 21,144
Weather: Cloudy, 66 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial.
