The Portland Timbers had a very strong performance against Western Conference leaders Real Salt Lake on Saturday night at Providence Park, with Felipe Mora, Santiago Moreno, and Evander all scoring in a convincing 3-0 victory for the Timbers.
At just the two minute mark of the match, the Timbers were on the board when Santiago Moreno fought off some very physical marking near the end line at the corner of the box, and then beat his defender cleanly and fed a nice pass into the box to Felipe Mora who one-timed the shot past a stunned goalkeeper for the 1-0 lead.
Both teams had reasonably good chances during the next half hour, with the best being a chance by Jonathan Rodríguez in the 38th minute that was right at goalkeeper Zac MacMath. RSL had a good chance of their own in the 41st minute on a shot by Cristian Arango that was tipped wide by goalkeeper James Pantemis. The Timbers goalkeeper also came up big in the 44th minute on a scramble after a counterattack by the visitors. The Timbers would hold a 2-0 lead over RSL at the break.
Early in the second half, the Timbers were on the board again when after several Timbers attempts near the RSL goal, Rodríguez played a cross to Evander, who headed the ball to Moreno got a good side volley shot off that was just inside the left post, and the Timbers lead was now 2-0.
Both teams had some reasonably good chances at the second half continued, but neither team was really putting good shots on net. In the 75th minute, Real Salt Lake had a golden opportunity to pull back a goal when Arango had an open header chance that was off the left post. Over the next 10 minutes, RSL had a few more decent chances that were just over the Timbers crossbar.
In the 90th minute, the Timbers would wrap things up on a counter attack started by a great run by Antony, who passed to Evander at the top of the box, who finished inside the left post with a lunging shot, and the Timbers lead was now 3-0. Anderson Julio had a good look for RSL in stoppage time, but his shot was just wide left. The Timbers would hold on for the 3-0 win.
With the goals tonight, the Timbers are the first team in MLS history to have three players (Felipe Mora, Jonathan Rodríguez, and Evander) all with eleven goals before August.
