The Portland Timbers continued their strong series of results at home with a 4-0 win over DC United on Sunday, their fifth straight win at Providence Park, and second straight shutout. The Timbers have outscored their opponents 14-2 over that span. Sebastián Blanco would score twice for the Timbers while Diego Valeri and Alvas Powell would also score, while Jeff Attinella had five strong saves to earn the shutout.
The match was quiet for much of the first half with DC’s Zoltán Stieber strike from 25 yards out in the 43rd minute being the first good chance for either side, with Jeff Attinella needing a last-second reaction save to keep the match scoreless.
In the 45th minute, the Timbers nearly grabbed the lead when Alvas Powell’s run into the box and low shot forced a save from DC United goalkeeper Steve Clark, and with the DC keeper out of the goal, David Guzmán had a chance to put the ball into the net but it was kept out but a DC defender.
But in first half stoppage time would find that opening goal when Clark fouled Timbers forward Darren Mattocks in the box, and Diego Valeri stepped up and slipped the penalty kick just inside the left post to give the Timbers the 1-0 halftime lead.
In the 49th minute, Attinella would make a spectacular double-save when DC’s Luciana Acosta‘s header was saved well, only to fall to Patrick Mullins whose close-in shot forced a second save.
But one minute later the Timbers would add another goal when Powell would cut back across to the corner of the DC box, curling a shot around Clark and into the lower left corner of the net to give the Timbers the 2-0 lead. Ten minutes later Sebastián Blanco would find himself with a chance from nearly the same spot as Powell had scored from, after Valeri played a soft pass right to his run, and like Powell’s shot, Blanco’s curling shot found the left side of the goal, this time just under the crossbar, and the Timbers had widened the lead to 3-0.
Attinella would make another spectacular save for the Timbers in the 82nd minute, with Lloyd Sam‘s shot from distance forcing a tip save over the bar to maintain the clean sheet. But the Timbers would add one more goal four minutes later when Blanco jumped on a loose ball and tapped the ball around Clark and then blasted into the open net for his second goal, and the final score in the Timbers 4-0 win over DC United.
Jeff Attinella had five saves while keeping a clean sheet while Steve Clark had three saves for DC.
