Yimmi Chara scored the decisive goal in the 82nd minute and the Portland Timbers prevailed on the road for the first time this season with a 2-1 victory over St. Louis City on Saturday night.
Evander scored on a penalty kick in the 63rd minute for Portland’s first goal. The Timbers (3-5-2, 11 points) improved to 1-4-1 on the road.
Celio Pompeu scored the goal for St. Louis City (6-3-1, 19 points). The expansion franchise is 1-3-1 after opening with five consecutive victories.
St. Louis City played without standout striker Joao Klauss (team-best five goals) due to a right quadriceps injury.
Chara entered the match in the 64th minute for his first appearance since injuring his hamstring in the season opener against Sporting Kansas City on Feb. 27.
Santiago Moreno possessed the ball and passed it to his right to Chara. St. Louis City goalkeeper Roman Burki appeared to be expecting Chara to dribble but instead he sent a right-footed boot into the left corner of the net for his first goal of the season.
St. Louis City was not able to create an equalizer opportunity. The club took just seven shots with only one on target. Portland’s Aljaz Ivacic didn’t make a single save.
Burki made five saves as the Timbers fired 15 shots, placing seven on target.
Portland was awarded the penalty kick that led to its first goal after a sequence that began with Franck Boli’s right-footed shot in the 61st minute. Burki made the save and defender John Nelson fell while preparing to clear the ball, and his upper arm made contact with it while he was on the ground.
Two minutes later, Evander stood near the spot and then approached slowly, and once Burki slightly leaned to his right, Evander booted the ball into the open area of the net to give the Timbers the lead.
St. Louis City knotted the score in the 79th minute. Tomas Ostrak passed the ball over to Pompeu, who lifted the ball over Ivacic high into the net for his first career MLS goal.
It took Portland just three minutes to answer with Chara’s decisive tally.
The Timbers had the only two shots on target in the first half and then sped up the pace in the second while collecting the surprising victory.
–Field Level Media
