PORTLAND, Ore.- The Portland Timbers rolled past the LA Galaxy, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon at Providence Park. Felipe Mora led the way with a brace after coming on at halftime while Diego Valeri added a penalty kick.
Galaxy defender Derrick Williams was sent off just before halftime after a violent challenge on Andy Polo. In his second MLS game, Logan Ketterer again delivered another shutout while on the other end, the Timbers put nine shots on target.
Defender Josecarlos Van Rankin was involved in all three goals. Van Rankin delivered an assist, drew the penalty kick, and had a shot off the crossbar that Mora headed home.
Match Moments
1' — SHOT (POR) — Forty seconds into the match, Jeremy Ebobisse played a long, diagonal pass to Dairon Asprilla, who had found space behind the LA defense. Asprilla's diving header flew wide of goal.
27' — SHOT (POR) — After receiving a flicked header from Diego Valeri in the box, Asprilla juggled the ball to himself before attempting an acrobatic, spinning volley that went over the bar.
31' — SHOT (POR) — Defender Claudio Bravo made a full-field attack after finding open space to dribble through, before attempting a long-range shot wide of the net.
33' — SHOT (POR) — Jeremy Ebobisse forced a save from Jonathan Bond when Ebobisse was put through on goal by a Valeri pass through the Galaxy defensive line.
34' — SHOT (POR) — Deep in the Galaxy end, Ebobisse forced a turnover and Valeri found himself with space in the box only to be denied by a kick save from Bond.
41' — SHOT (POR) — Bravo forced a diving save when he attempted a 25-yard volley off an LA clearance.
44' — RED CARD (LA) — LA's Derrick Williams was ejected from the match after a violent and dangerous challenge on Andy Polo. Polo could not continue in the match and was subbed off for Felipe Mora.
47' — GOAL (POR) — Mora scored his first MLS goal of the season when he headed home from six yards after a cross from Josecarlos Van Rankin.
48' — SHOT (POR) — Marvin LorÃa almost doubled the advantage when he sent a left-footed shot just high of goal.
55' — SHOT (POR) — Eryk Williamson was denied by Bond after Ebobisse fed a pass to Williamson at a tight angle in the box.
60' — GOAL (POR) — Mora notched his brace when he was quickest to react after Van Rankin chipped the ball over the goalkeeper and off the crossbar.
62' — SAVE (POR) — Goalkeeper Logan Ketterer made a close-range save after a deflection in the box led to Daniel Steres finding himself one-on-one with Ketterer.
69' — GOAL (POR) — After Van Rankin was brought down in the box, Valeri gave Bond no chance as the Argentine Maestro put a powerful penalty kick into the net.
Notes
- With the win, the Timbers improved to 11-10-6 in MLS regular-season play against the LA Galaxy.
- In their last three regular-season matches against LA dating back to Oct. 7, 2020, the Timbers have outscored the Galaxy 14-5.
- Portland is 6-1-0 in its last seven competitive matches against the Galaxy, outscoring LA by a 26-9 margin in those matches.
- Since joining the Timbers in 2018, head coach Giovanni Savarese holds a 7-3-1 in 11 matches managed across all competitions against the LA Galaxy.
- Portland fired 20 shots in the match, with nine being on target. It is the first time the Timbers have had 20 or more shots and nine or more shots on target in the same match since Sept. 22, 2019, against Minnesota United FC.
- Felipe Mora scored his first two MLS goals of 2021 and now has four goals in all competitions this season.
- The brace was the second of Mora's MLS career. Mora's other two-goal game also came against the Galaxy in a 6-3 win on Oct. 7, 2020.
- Five of Mora's nine career MLS goals have been against the Galaxy.
- Diego Valeri scored the 85th regular-season goal of his Timbers career. Additionally, the goal marked Valeri’s 99th career goal across all competitions for Portland.
- Valeri has scored 22 penalty-kick goals in his career, which is fifth-most in MLS history.
- Logan Ketterer is the first Timbers goalkeeper to have shutouts in each of his first two matches with the club and also the first goalkeeper to win each of his first two starts for Portland.
- Josecarlos Van Rankin delivered his first MLS assist on Mora's first goal.
- Marvin LorÃa notched his first assist of the season and the fourth of his MLS career. It is LorÃa's second consecutive match with either a goal or an assist.
Portland Timbers (3-3-0, 9pts) vs. LA Galaxy (4-2-0, 12pts)
May 22, 2021 – (Portland, Ore.)
Goals by Half
LA Galaxy 0 0 0
Portland Timbers
Scoring Summary:
POR: Mora (Van Rankin, Loria), 47
POR: Mora, 60
POR: Valeri (penalty kick), 69
Misconduct Summary:
LA: Williams (ejection), 44
Lineups:
POR: GK Ketterer, D Van Rankin, D Tuiloma, D Zuparic, D Bravo, M Y. Chara (Zambrano, 72), M Williamson, M Polo (Mora, 45+3), F Asprilla (Loria, 45), F Valeri © (McGraw, 81), F Ebobisse (Bodily, 81)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Sulte, D Bonilla
TOTAL SHOTS: 20 (Valeri, Asprilla, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 9 (Valeri, 3); FOULS: 8 (3, Tuiloma); OFFSIDES: 4; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 3
LA: GK Bond, D Araujo, D Williams, D Steres, D Villafana, M Santos © (Dunbar, 80), M Lletget (Saldana, 80), M Alvarez (DePuy, 45), F Cabral, (Zubak, 70), F Grandsir (Kljestan, 40), F Hernandez
Substitutes Not Used: GK Klinsmann, D Fisher, D Harvey, D Acosta
TOTAL SHOTS: 14 (five players tied, 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (three players tied, 1); FOULS: 8 (Steres, 4); OFFSIDES: 4; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: 6
Referee: Alan Kelly
Assistant Referees: Cameron Blanchard, Jeremy Hanson
Fourth Official: Baldomero Toledo
VAR: Malik Badawi
Weather: Partly cloudy, 62 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
