The Portland Timbers jumped on a horribly-flat, mistake-making Columbus Crew early in Sunday’s MLS Cup and won their first league title 2-1 at Mapfre Stadium. It is the same style of play employed by the Lions coach Adrian Heath, and Berhalter was able to build on a core that already existed in Columbus when he arrived, including Wil Trapp, Federico Higuain, Ethan Finlay and Justin Meram.
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But it mattered little as Kwarasey and his team-mates were handed the trophy to end his successful first year in America’s top-flight league.
It was hardly a classic final with plenty of errors on each side, yet that did not douse the enthusiasm of the Timbers, who ended their 40 years in the soccer desert.
In the second half, both teams struggled to create opportunities, but eventually Portland came to life and started to find chances. We go into games and this is a humble group of guys. “All I could think about was sharing the moment with my players”.
Columbus played the ball back to Clark and the American kicked it to his left, away from onrushing attacker Valeri, to set up a long clearing blast. After taking a backpass, his heavy touch allowed Diego Valeri to block down the hesitant shotstopper and put Portland into a lead after just 27 seconds.
The visitors exploded out the gate, scoring two goals in the first seven minutes, en route to their first Major League Soccer championship.
Portland laid the groundwork for this long-awaited triumph in the first six minutes. They then survived an 11-round penalty shootout against Sporting KC in the Knockout Round, blanked the Vancouver Whitecaps, 2-0, in the conference semifinal and handled No. 1 seed FC Dallas in the Conference Championship.
In fact, it got worse.
Berhalter admitted that the two goals conceded early was ultimately too much for the hosts to overcome, but paid tribute to his side and vowed to use the loss as a learning experience. A pass from Diego Chara to Alvas Powell went out of bounds at midfield, but the assistant referee did not stop play. Portland worked the ball to Lucas Melano, who sent in a looping cross from the right flank that a diving Wallace headed home at the far post for a stunning two-goal advantage.
That strong defensive ability will be vital to Portland’s chances, as they aren’t the best at finding the goal. I have absolutely no idea what happened.
Before a couple thousand very happy Timbers fans in an otherwise almost-empty postgame stadium, the Timbers danced and celebrated amid fireworks and confetti.
If the ball had clearly crossed the line, a throw-in should have been given, Marrufo said.
Asked if a whistle was blown at the time, Marrufo said no.
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Both clubs were relatively healthy going into Saturday when Columbus SC forward Kei Kamara suffered an injury to his right leg while training, according to ESPN. Portland just about coped with the initial delivery, but the ball bounded high into the air.
