Steven Moreira’s long-distance strike in the 74th minute rallied the host Columbus Crew for a second time in a 2-2 draw with the Portland Timbers on Saturday.
Moreira scored just his second goal in 81 MLS matches with a shot from 30 yards to the upper left corner, but the Crew (3-1-5, 14 points) are winless in five matches with a loss and four straight ties.
Felipe Mora and Santiago Moreno each scored and had an assist for the Timbers (2-3-4, 10 points), who have three consecutive draws after a three-match losing streak.
Cucho Hernandez’s free kick for the Crew on the last play of the match hit the inside of the right post and bounded harmlessly off the goal line.
Mora scored in his fourth straight Timbers match in the 10th minute.
Hernandez, returning on his 25th birthday from a red-card suspension, tied it 1-1 in the 51st minute prior to Moreno putting the Timbers ahead in the 57th.
Moreno, who turns 24 on Sunday, scored his second goal of the season with a slotted shot from Evander with Mora getting the secondary assist.
That quieted the crowd that moments earlier saw Diego Rossi take an entry pass from Mo Farsi and send a ball from the right side of the box to an unmarked Hernandez 15 yards from the goal for his fourth goal in seven matches this season.
He has 29 goals in 50 MLS regular season matches.
Tight passing in the buildup led to the Timbers’ first goal with Eryk Williamson slipping a pass to Mora on the run between defenders.
Mora caught goalkeeper Patrick Schulte leaning toward the right post and rolled the ball past sliding defender Rudy Camacho to the far post.
Portland was fourth in MLS with 2.00 goals per match but tied for second in goals allowed with the same 2.00 so Saturday’s score seems appropriate.
James Pantemis, starting because Maxime Crepeau served a red-card suspension, made four saves for Portland while Schulte had two.
Portland midfielder Diego Chara played his 376th match for the Timbers since debuting on April 23, 2011, to tie former San Jose Earthquakes forward Chris Wondolowski for the most regular season matches for a single team in MLS history. Chara has made 369 starts.
–Field Level Media
