Kamara has the ability to be a game breaker in the MLS Cup, and not having him in the lineup will hurt Columbus, according to Joe Tanasey.
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In one of the wildest MLS Cup finals in the league’s 20-year history, the Portland Timbers scored twice in the first seven minutes and beat the Columbus Crew 2-1 to win Portland’s first-ever league championship. It was a contentious goal as the ball had run out of play in the build-up but the referees failed to spot it. The Crew stopped playing while Portland didn’t, and it paid off for them. Portland became the first team to take the league crown back to the Pacific Northwest. That says everything about our team: “We’ve suffered a little bit, we’ve had pressure, it was fair”.
The strategy paid off less than a minute into the match. Valeri kept coming. Clark steered the ball from his pursuer but was too casual in trying to thump it out of danger.
The Timbers were able to get out to the best of starts when Valeri scored less than 30 seconds into the game after a goalkeeping error from Steve Clark.
“All year, something like that hasn’t happened”, Columbus coach Gregg Berhalter said. Both sides. You know their midfield, everything’s kind of the kind of clicking at the right time for this team and you know that they’re hard going to be hard to beat. The Crew’s Michael Parkhurst made three consecutive trips to the final with New England from 2005-07 (all losses).
“This is special for us”, said Valeri, who was named the match’s Most Valuable Player. And while they took plenty of shots on goal over the course of the year, those shots didn’t amount to much in most games. He also created another chance by sending a cross to the front of the net, but it was headed away at the last instant. After a flurry of kicks, the ball came to the feet of Crew striker Kei Kamara, who managed to fire in low through the feet of several Timbers players. After the match he sat dejected on the field for more than 10 minutes, while the Crew faithful cheered his name.
In the second half, Columbus held off Portland with some help from the woodwork.
Portlands win on Sunday now gives the Western Conference a 14-6 lead in MLS Cup tiles over the East. Portland also becomes the first of the three Cascadia teams to win the MLS Cup.
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Liam Ridgewell hoists the MLS Cup trophy after Portland claimed its first title. Both Columbus and Orlando City play a base 4-2-3-1 and each team showed a willingness to tweak that formation to get results. Jeff Swinger, USA TODAY Sports Nat Borchers celebrates with the Portland fans.
While the Timbers pondered destiny, the Crew were dealing with uncertainty.
Halftime at MAPFRE Stadium: @TimbersFC 2, @ColumbusCrewSC 1. Can the Portland Timbers hope to win their first MLS Cup in what is essentially a road game? Thirty seconds in, the Timbers had stunned the Columbus crowd. By the seventh minute Portland were up 2-0 after a Rodney Wallace header.
Columbus midfielder Justin Meram defended the custodian, saying: “This isn’t on Steve, it’s on all of us”.
Columbus Crew SC finished second in the East with a 15-11-8 record, outscoring opponents 58-53.
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In the 72 minute, Adi connected on a cross from the left side with a header that knocked off the post and then Clark to go unbelievably out of play.
