David Ayala scored on a first-time volley from a corner kick in second-half stoppage time and the Portland Timbers rallied to a 2-1 victory over visiting St. Louis City on Sunday.
Antony pulled Portland (8-4-5, 29 points) level with his team-leading sixth goal in the 55th minute, setting the stage for the Timbers to seal a dramatic, second consecutive 2-1 home win following a May 28 triumph over Colorado.
James Pantemis finished with seven saves and was particularly exceptional during the first half, when the Timbers struggled to match City’s pace and aggression.
Akil Watts put St. Louis (3-9-5, 14 points) in front in the 50th minute. But after a strong showing on an unseasonably hot day in Portland over the first hour, the flow of the match seemed to reverse in the final 30 minutes plus stoppage time, resulting in a first defeat for City under interim head coach David Critchley.
Antony’s leveler was a spectacular individual goal.
After receiving a pass from Jimer Fory at the midfield stripe, Antony popped the ball over the head of pressing defender Tomas Totlund to put himself into space dribbling toward the penalty area.
As the rest of the St. Louis’ back line retreated, the Brazilian eyed up the goal, then curled a right-footed shot from right at the edge of the area beyond Roman Burki’s dive and inside the far right post.
About 37 minutes later, the Timbers got their winner on a well-diagrammed set piece.
While other Timbers attackers pushed in toward the 6-yard box awaiting Santiago Moreno’s corner, Ayala remained at the edge of the 18. Then just as Moreno approached the ball, Ayala made a darting run to the penalty area and met Moreno’s in-swinging ball in stride, guiding into the bottom left corner past Burki, who was looking through traffic.
Pantemis had already made several key stops before Watts gave St. Louis a deserved lead in the 50th minute.
Watts himself was denied moments before. But he was first to the loose ball seconds later after Totlund’s cross from the right was just partially cleared, hammering his finish low and hard through Pantemis for his first goal of the season.
–Field Level Media
