The Timbers allowed Nashville to jump out to a 2-0 lead on Sunday night, but a penalty kick goal by Dairon Asprilla brought the Timbers back within a goal, then a few minutes later Jarosław Niezgoda would get the game-tying goal. Sean Davis and Hany Mukhtar would score for Nashville in a 2-2 draw.
Nashville were the first on the board after a pretty even first 19 minutes, when Sean Davis collected a pass just outside the Timbers box, and curled a nice shot into the far side of the net, and Nashville had a 1-0 lead. Late in the first half the Timbers had a great chance to equalize when Claudio Bravo made a nice move to make a run near the Nashville goal, then slipped a pass to a wide-open Santiago Moreno in front of goal, but Moreno’s shot at an apparently open net was saved by a wild recovery and brilliant save by Nashville’s Elliot Panicco. The score would be 1-0 Nashville at the break.
In the 57th minute, Nashville doubled their lead when Luke Haakenson made a pass that found Hany Mukhtar open near the corner of the six-yard box, and the Nashville midfielder one-timed his shot nicely, and the hosts now had a 2-0 lead.
But the tone of the match would change in the 63rd minute, when the Nashville goalkeeper mistakenly passed the ball directly to Jarosław Niezgoda, then fouled the Timbers forward in the box when attempting to recovery, and a penalty kick was awarded. Dairon Asprilla would take the penalty kick, and though Panicco got a good touch on the attempted save, it wasn’t enough to keep the chance out of the goal, and the score was now 2-1 Nashville.
And just five minutes later, the Timbers made their newly-found momentum pay off, when Eryk Williamson found Niezgoda with a nice pass, and the Timbers forward finished nicely into the upper left corner of the net, and the score was now 2-2.
Then in second-half stoppage time, the Timbers nearly jumped into the lead on a spectacular shot when Marvin Loria‘s blast from 25 yards out hit the crossbar but stayed out. It was the last good scoring chance for either team, and the Timbers earned a 2-2 draw and are now undefeated in their past four matches.
David Bingham had seven saves for the Timbers, while Elliot Panicco recorded three for the hosts.
MATCH RECAP | Portland Timbers extend unbeaten streak with 2-2 fightback draw against Nashville SC | Timbers website
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS | Portland Timbers storm back for 2-2 draw with Nashville SC | Timbers website
