PORTLAND — Diego Valeri scored his 14th goal of the season and the Portland Timbers beat the New York Red Bulls 2-0 on Friday night.
The Red Bulls, who had won five of their previous six games, rested Bradley Wright-Phillips after a short turnaround because of a U.S. Open Cup semifinal earlier in this week.
Valeri’s goal in the 66th minute was his 51st with the Timbers, tying him with Fanendo Adi for the most in franchise history across all eras. He leads all Portland scorers this season.
Second-half sub Darren Mattocks added a goal for the Timbers just as stoppage time ran out at the end. It was his second goal of the season.
The Timbers were 2-2-1 in their previous five games, including a 4-1 loss at Toronto last weekend.
New York was coming off a 3-2 come-from-behind U.S. Open Cup semifinal victory over FC Cincinnati on Tuesday night.
The Red Bulls didn’t bring in midfielder Sacha Kljestan until the second half, and left Wright-Phillips on the bench for the duration. Midfielder Daniel Royer missed his second game with a knee injury.
Kljestan leads the league with 12 assists this season, while Wright-Phillips is ranked third with 14 goals, tied with Valeri.
Valeri, who scored the lone goal last week in the loss to the Reds, took a pass from Diego Chara in the corner and caught New York goalkeeper Luis Robles off guard from atop the box.
In a scoreless first half, the Timbers couldn’t manage to break through despite a few good opportunities, Darlington Nagbe’s shot from some 20 yards out in the 39th minute that caromed off the crossbar.
Portland defender Larrys Mabiala was sent off with a red card in the 80th minute after pulling New York’s Gonzalo Veron down outside the penalty box. Fidel Escobar’s free kick went just wide.
Timbers goalkeeper Jeff Attinella was able to deflect Sal Zizzo’s header in the 90th minute before Mattocks’ goal as time ran out.
Robles, New York’s captain for the game, made his club-record 164th start.
The Red Bulls will visit Sporting Kansas City in the U.S. Open Cup championship game Sept. 20.
