On April 14, 2011, the Portland Timbers hosted the Chicago Fire in Portland's first ever home match in MLS play. In front of a raucous, rain-soaked crowd, the Timbers defeated the Fire, 4-2.
Tune in to FOX 12 KPTV on March 22, 2020 at 3pm PT to see a special rebroadcast of this memorable match and watch online at Timbers.com, presented by 76®.
Here are five numbers to know from #PORvCHI in the first edition of From the #StatMan archives.
10,463 The MLS home opener marked the end to Portland not having first division soccer. Prior to the game, the last top-flight club match in Portland was 10,463 days prior on Aug.22, 1982 when the NASL Timbers hosted the Seattle Sounders.
3 There were three players to play in the Timbers first MLS home game that also played the last home regular season game of the club's lower division USL era. Defender Steve Purdy, along with midfielders James Marcelin, and Kalif Alhassan all appeared in Portland's 1-0 victory over the Puerto Rico Islanders on Sept. 2, 2010 and in the 4-2 victory over the Fire.
129 In his five seasons with the Timbers, midfielder Rodney Wallace played 129 MLS matches (regular season and playoffs). His first goal for the club was in the victory over the Fire while his last was the game-winning goal in the 2015 MLS Cup.
33% Forward Jorge Perlaza scored the first MLS goal in the city of Portland when he beat Chicago goalkeeper Sean Johnson in the 29th minute and also scored the game-winner later in the match. Perlaza scored 33 percent of his Portland goal output in the inaugural match.
2 One oddity from the match is that it featured two own goals with Portland defender Eric Brunner and Chicago defender Dasan Robinson each putting the ball in their own net. The game is the only MLS match in the last 15 seasons to feature two second half own goals.
