The Portland Timbers have secured 4th place in the Western Conference, and therefore at least one home playoff game, with a 3-1 win on the road at Real Salt Lake. The Timbers will host whichever team finishes 5th in the conference, which will be Minnesota, Vancouver, LA Galaxy, Real Salt Lake.
The Timbers opened the scoring in the 17th minute, when off a corner kick, Cristhian Paredes headed the ball to a wide-open Sebastián Blanco, who headed in easily, and put the Timbers up 1-0. The Timbers doubled their lead in the 38th minute when Salt Lake’s Aaron Herrera knocked in a Blanco cross for the own goal. And then just before the half, Blanco had an easy finish into an open net after a give-and-go with Jaroslaw Niezgoda to put the Timbers up 3-0.
Real Salt Lake did pull back a goal in the 88th minute when Albert Rusná converted a penalty kick after a handball on Claudio Bravo, but the Timbers held on for the 3-1 victory.
