Whitecaps hold off Timbers, 4-3

PORTLAND — It was going so well for the Portland Timbers.

Two consecutive road wins and a third-minute goal on Sunday had the Timbers and their fans at Providence Park feeling good.

Then a comedy of errors took away all the good feeling for the home team as the Vancouver Whitecaps scored four goals in just over a half hour on their way to an acrimonious 4-3 win.

Instead of jumping into the top five, Portland (3-4-7, 16 points), fell to eighth in the Western Conference.

With the first win in a Cascadia Cup match this season, Vancouver (5-2-5, 20 points) is fourth in the West.

As the seven goals indicate, the match was plenty entertaining — especially when the Timbers scored two late goals and had several shots at a tying goal in the final moments.

And the action didn’t stop at the final whistle. Timbers coach Caleb Porter appeared to have a heated exchange with Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson — Porter said he simply congratulated Robinson. Timbers owner Merritt Paulson followed referee Kevin Stott off the field with sarcastic applause and what looked to be some colorful words. And several players from both teams got into a shoving match.

“It was because we lost the game and I don’t like losing, and neither do my guys,” Porter said of the post-game frustration.

Yes, emotions were raw after Vancouver turned two first-half penalty kicks and strong performances from Portland-area native Erik Hurtado and from midfielder Pedro Morales into the first win for a visiting MLS team in the last 23 matches at Providence Park.

The result and frustration overshadowed three beautiful goals from the Timbers. Maximiliano Urruti and Gaston Fernandez each scored his team-leading sixth of the season, and Will Johnson scored a left-footer off a feed from Fanendo Adi that might be the goal of the year.

Johnson’s one-timer came after Adi juggled the ball on his right foot with his back to goal and flicked the ball into space for Johnson. It pulled the Timbers within one in the 86th minute and Portland had three quality chances at the equalizer.

But, ultimately, the Timbers couldn’t overcome a sour ending to the first half and a counter-attack goal early in the second half that proved to be the difference in the game.

That Morales converted both penalty kicks was appropriate. Finding space to run at the Portland defense, the Vancouver midfielder was trouble in open space throughout the match helping to generate 23 Vancouver shots (11 on target) and assisting on two goals.

Hurtado, the former Timbers under-23 forward and a graduate of Westeview High School in Beaverton, drew the first penalty when Stott ruled he was fouled by Portland’s Diego Chara.

The second PK was awarded after a Hurtado pass produced an opening on the counter attack and Portland’s Jorge Villafana was cited for a foul inside the penalty area. Villafana said he was surprised the penalty was called.

Porter was diplomatic about the calls against his team — Portland has now been whistled for eight penalty kicks this season and has not been awarded one. The second part of that equation had Porter upset, particularly because Diego Valeri appeared to be chopped down from behind on a clear scoring chance in the first half.

“Refs make calls. But if you’re going to make the call you better do it both ways, plain and simple,” Porter said. “And there were some calls that we didn’t get, I thought.”

The more impactful goals came on either side of halftime. Hurtado put Vancouver ahead 3-1 seconds before halftime on a Morales assist. Four minutes after halftime, defender Jordan Harvey was open at the end of a Morales cross and drove a nice shot past Donovan Ricketts to make it 4-1.

“I will credit Vancouver because I thought they scored a couple of great goals,” Porter said. “For me, the third goal and the fourth goal (were) great goals.”

The Timbers dominated the first 15 minutes of the match. Urruti scored in the third minute with a left-footed drive from just outside the top of the 18-yard box. The play started with a Chara tackle in the defensive end and a nifty escape move by Darlington Nagbe, who popped the ball forward to Urruti on the run.

The penalty kicks in the 16th and the 26th minutes didn’t only change the lead, they changed the tenor of the match as Vancouver dictated play for much of the remainder of the first half.

“Honestly, I think it rattled us a little bit with the penalty calls,” Timbers defender Jack Jewsbury. “We’ve got a veteran group and that usually doesn’t happen to us. But the second (penalty) especially, you feel a little hard done. I think we got a little too emotional maybe at that point in the game which opened the game up tactically for them.”

As is their personality, the Timbers gave themselves a shot late to tie or win.

“This team has never lacked intensity, never lacked spirit,” Porter said. “And they didn’t lack it tonight.”

WHITECAPS 4, TIMBERS 3

Vancouver 3 1–4

Portland 1 2–3

First half–1, Portland, Urruti 6 (Valeri), 3rd minute. 2, Vancouver, Morales 4 (penalty kick), 16th. 3, Vancouver, Morales 5 (penalty kick), 26th. 4, Vancouver, Hurtado 3 (Morales), 45th+.

Second half–5, Vancouver, Harvey 2 (Morales), 49th. 6, Portland, Fernandez 6 (Valeri), 77th. 7, Portland, Johnson 3 (Adi), 86th.

Goalies–Vancouver, David Ousted; Portland, Donovan Ricketts.

Yellow Cards–Manneh, Vancouver, 28th; Kah, Portland, 45th; Fernandez, Vancouver, 45th; Morales, Vancouver, 90th+.

Referee–Kevin Stott. Assistant Referees–Chris Strickland. Mike Rottersman. 4th Official–Baldomero Toledo.

A–20,814 (20,000)

Lineups

Vancouver–David Ousted, Jay DeMerit, Jordan Harvey, Andy O’Brien, Gershon Koffie, Sebastian Fernandez (Omar Salgado, 78th), Pedro Morales, Nigel Reo-Coker, Matias Laba, Erik Hurtado (Darren Mattocks, 66th), Kekuta Manneh (Russell Teibert, 46th).

Portland–Donovan Ricketts, Rauwshan McKenzie, Pa-Modou Kah, Diego Valeri, Will Johnson, Jack Jewsbury, Jorge Villafana (Kalif Alhassan, 77th), Steve Zakuani (Fanendo Adi, 57th), Diego Chara, Darlington Nagbe, Maximiliano Urruti (Gaston Fernandez, 66th).