Portland Timbers 3-Minnesota United FC 2
Traveling is fun but there is nothing like coming back home. After five consecutive matches on the road the Portland Timbers had their first match back at Providence Park on Saturday. While the tifos, the songs, the old friends, and the home cooking were nice the three points was even better. Despite facing Darwin Quintero and the high-powered Minnesota United attack, the Timbers dispatched the Loons 3-2 to earn their first win on the season.
Emboldened by the electric atmosphere at home, the Timbers attack got started early with goals from defender Alvas Powell (21′) and midfielder Diego Valeri (23′). In the second half Minnesota would make things interesting with Quintero getting his first goal in Major League Soccer in the 64th minute. But the Portland attack was determined to earn the three points and shake off some of the rust from the early part of the season. Fanendo Adi would finish off a Cristhian Paredes shot in the 74th minute to extend their lead to two. It was Adi’s first goal in 2018. A Bill Tuiloma own goal in the 81st minute would give Minnesota some life late. But it wasn’t enough to deny Portland the result.
You can check out Fern McOistigan’s full recap of the match here. In the meantime please enjoy some of our photos from the match courtesy of our photographer Mark Hoffman (Note: You can check out all of our Timbers photos from 2018 on SmugMug).
Minnesota United FC
Portland
