Photo: Gerrit te Hennepe
After allowing the Vancouver Whitecaps an early lead in the first half, the Portland Timbers came back with a lot of fight in the second half and tied the game. However in the end, the Timbers fell short when Ryan Raposo scored his second goal of the season in the 87th minute.
Despite the efforts of Timbers keeper Maxime Crepeau, in the end the Vancouver Whitecaps came up with a big win in the always celebrated Cascadia Cup with round one in their favor.
The moves made by Caps manager Vanni Sartini, who was in his first match back from suspension, paid off in the end, stopping the Timbers’ momentum. The Whitecaps started strong in the second half trying to build on their 2-0 lead on goals from Ryan Gauld (2nd minute) and Fafa Picault (29th minute).
The Vancouver side opened the scoring early in the 2nd minute via Ryan Gauld . After Gauld attempted a pass near the left side of the six-yard box and with the play being blocked by Timbers defender Zac McGraw. The ball came back to Gauld and with a right-footed shot scored his first goal of the season in the top right corner of the net.
The second goal scored was from Fafa Picault in the 29th minute after intercepting a poor clearing from Zac McGraw at the top of the box scoring his second goal of the season.
Still, the Timbers came up strong in the second half with a beauty of a goal by Evander in the 52nd minute and later by Felipe Mora in the 77th minute with a header as the Rose City side tied the game up but later conceded the winner in the 87th minute by Raposo.
It certainly looked like the Portland Timbers (2-3-1, 7 points) would come up at least with a share of points and avoid a third consecutive third. That’s when Raposo delivered with his late goal and lifted the Whitecaps (3-1-1, 10 points) to an amazing win!
For the Portland Timbers, they had a final chance to tie the match again in stoppage time after center back Kamal Miller’s header sailed wide of the right post, leaving the Timbers with their third consecutive loss.
Goals
Ryan Gauld 2’ VAN, Fafa Picault 29’ VAN, Evander 52’ POR, Felipe Mora 77’ POR, Ryan Raposo 87’ VAN
(Editor’s Note: For more of Gerrit te Hennepe’s photos, click here for his gallery of the match.)
Portland Timbers
