After a 0-0 home draw in the first leg of the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs Western Conference Championship, the Timbers defeated Sporting Kansas City, 3-1, to advance to their second-ever MLS Cup.
Selected by Timbers head coach Giovanni Savarese for this week's PTFC: From the Archives, presented by KeyBank, Tune in to FOX 12 Oregon KPTV or Timbers.com on April 26, 2020 at 3pm PT to see a special rebroadcast of match. Here are five numbers to know for ahead of Sunday's rebroadcast.
2X2 Midfielder Diego Valeri delivered his second brace of the postseason, heading in the game-winner and sealing the match with a late breakaway goal. Valeri's two braces in the 2018 postseason are the only multi-goal games by any Timbers player in the club's playoff history.
3 With his game-tying golazo in the 52nd minute, Sebastián Blanco became the first Timbers player (all eras) to score in three different games in a single postseason. Blanco also joins Valeri as the only Timbers players with three or more goals in one postseason.
2 Both Blanco and Valeri scored on goals from outside the box. It is one of two matches in Timbers MLS history that the club has scored multiple goals from outside the 18-yard-box (Oct. 26, 2013 at Chivas USA).
2/50 Sporting held the halftime lead after going ahead on a Daniel Salloi first half goal. The match was just the second time in Kansas City's playoff history (50 matches) that they lost after holding a halftime lead.
5 The victory made the Timbers the first-ever team who was seeded fifth to win the Western Conference. On the way to MLS Cup, Portland won matches at FC Dallas and Kansas City while also winning a penalty kick shootout in Seattle.
