The Portland Timbers took a step in the right direction toward capturing a playoff spot and catching Seattle Sounders FC in the Cascadia Cup standings on Saturday. The Colombian connection of Jorge Perlaza and Diego Chara combined to score both goals as the Timbers earned a 2-1 win over the Whitecaps in front of 18.627 fans at JELD-WEN Field. Perlaza and Jack Jewsbury assisted on Chara's 2nd-minute strike, the fastest goal in Timbers MLS franchise history. Perlaza added an unassisted goal of his own in the first half to stake the Timbers to a two-goal lead against their rivals from British Columbia.
Chara scored his first career MLS goal quickly, taking a feed from Perlaza and firing past Joe Cannon just 76 seconds into Saturday's contest. Chara, who head coach John Spencer said looked "a man among boys," following the game, nearly added an assist to his totals, but Kalif Alhassan's 50th-minute strike hit the left post. By scoring his first career goal and edging goalkeeper Troy Perkins out with 47.8 percent of the votes, Diego Chara is your CenturyLink Man of the Match.
Diego Chara - 47.80%
Troy Perkins - 37.11%
Jorge Perlaza - 10.01%
David Horst - 2.26%
Lovel Palmer - 2.06%
Congratulations to Diego and remember to visit Facebook.com/PortlandTimbers for future CenturyLink Man of the Match votes.
