The Portland Timbers extended their unbeaten streak to four games on Friday night with a 3-0 win over the New England Revolution in front of a Timbers MLS-record crowd of 20,323 fans. Diego Chara opened the scoring for Portland in the ninth minute after Sal Zizzo hustled to a long cross and kept the ball in play. Defender Lovel Palmer collected the ball from Zizzo and sent in a cross that found Chara in the box. The Colombian took two touches and beat onrushing goalkeeper Matt Reis for the first goal. Kenny Cooper put Portland up 2-0 in the 32nd minute when he used his hip to redirect a cross from Mike Chabala into the goal. Darlington Nagbe closed out the scoring when he headed in a wide-open look in the 66th minute.
Based on his hustle on both sides of the ball, his ability to keep the ball in play that led to the opening goal in the ninth minute and his danger in the Timbers attack, midfielder Sal Zizzo edged out Darlington Nagbe with 39.19 percent of the vote to earn the CenturyLink Man of the Match honors.
Sal Zizzo - 39.19%
Darlington Nagbe - 31.16%
Diego Chara - 22.56%
Kenny Cooper - 3.82%
Kalif Alhassan - 3.25%
Congratulations to Sal and remember to visit Facebook.com/PortlandTimbers for future CenturyLink Man of the Match votes.
