ORLANDO, Fla. – Paced by goals from Jeremy Ebobisse and Diego Valeri, the Portland Timbers defeated the Houston Dynamo, 2-1, Saturday evening in their second game of Group F in the MLS is Back Tournament Group Play presented by Heineken at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla.
The win puts the Timbers atop Group F with six points and qualifies them for the Knockout Stage presented by Audi.
2' - CHANCE (POR) - Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri served in a free kick from about 35 yards out that found an open Bill Tuiloma. The defender's header was snapped down but right at Houston goalkeeper Marko Maric.
10' - SAVE (POR) - Houston's Mauro Manotas came down the Dynamo left, cut inside and fired a hard dipping shot but Timbers goalkeeper Steve Clark went low to make the save.
17' - CHANCE (POR) - Timbers forward Jeremy Ebobisse gathered the ball out wide right and looped a ball in centrally near midfielder Yimmi Chara. Chara accelerated beyond the Houston defender and snuck a low shot on frame that Maric made the save on.
21' - CHANCE (POR) - Yimmi Chara threaded a pass to Ebobisse at the top of the box who squared it to an open Eryk Williamson on the left. Williamson's hard shot was saved by Maric but the rebound was unable to be cleared by Houston and eventually made its way to Sebastían Blanco near the edge of the area. The midfielder's skipping shot went just wide of the left post.
34' - CHANCE (POR) - Yimmi Chara pounced on a deflected back pass and raced in from the right side. His low show was kicked away by Maric.
36' - GOAL (POR) - A minute later, Blanco picked out Ebobisse on the left wing with a perfect long pass. Ebobisse carried into the area and arrowed his shot into the far lower corner past Maric to give Portland a 1-0 lead.
45' - SAVE (POR) - The Dynamo's Manotas raced in from the left side of the Portland net with the ball though Clark raced off his line, cut down the angle and made a great save to knock the ball out for a corner.
59' - CHANCE (POR) - Ebobisse sprung Valeri down the left channel and he and Blanco raced in on goal with a 2v2 matchup. Valeri rolled a ball forward for Blanco but his final shot rolled wide right of goal.
61' - GOAL (POR) - A great team goal made it 2-0 for Portland in the second half. Defender Larrys Mabiala sent a ball over the that found Williamson. Williamson controlled it before spying an unmarked Valeri near the top of the box. Valeri received the pass and slotted home his shot to the right side of the net for his 79th career MLS goal. The play also marked the first career MLS assist for Williamson.
78' - CHANCE (POR) - Portland, looking to increase their lead, deftly moved the ball around the attacking third. Blanco, from the left side, hit a shot towards the near post that was knocked out for a corner by Maric. On the ensuing free kick, Valeri collected the loose ball and floated his shot just past the right post.
86' - GOAL (HOU) - Following a Video Assisted Review, referee Ismail Elfath ruled a handball against Timbers defender Jorge Villafaña and awarded a penalty kick for Houston. Dynamo forward Alberth Elis quickly converted to cut the score to 2-1.
87' and 88' - RED CARD (HOU) - Elis then picked up two quick yellow cards – and the accompanying red card – in under two minutes leaving the Dynamo with 10 men for the rest of the match.
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Timbers play their third game in Group F on Thursday, July 23 against Los Angeles FC at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Kickoff is 7:30pm PT on ESPN2
Portland Timbers (3-1-0, 9pts) vs. Houston Dynamo (0-2-2, 2pts) – MLS is Back Tournament
July 18, 2020 – ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex (Orlando, Fla.)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
Houston Dynamo 0 1 1
Portland Timbers 1 1 2
Scoring Summary:
POR: Ebobisse (Blanco), 35
POR: Valeri (Williamson, Mabiala), 61
HOU: Elis (penalty kick), 86
Misconduct Summary:
HOU: Figueroa (caution), 7
POR: Williamson (caution), 24
HOU: Rodríguez (caution), 45+1
POR: Villafaña (caution), 86
HOU: Elis (caution), 87
HOU: Elis (caution, ejection), 88
Lineups:
POR: GK Clark, D Bonilla (Duvall, 82), D Mabiala, D Tuiloma, D Villafaña, M D. Chara, M Williamson (Loría, 69), M Y. Chara (Polo, 60), M Valeri ©, M Blanco, F Ebobisse (Niezgoda, 69)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Attinella, D Cascante, D Farfan, D McGraw, M Conechny, M Paredes, M Zambrano, F Mora
TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Blanco, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Y. Chara, 2); FOULS: 9 (Willamson, Villafaña, 2); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 3
HOU: GK Maric, D Lundkvist, D Valentin, D Struna (Cabrera, 88), D Figueroa, M Rodríguez (Martínez, 62), M Vera, M García © (McNamara, 87), F Elis, F Manotas, F Quintero (Lemoine, 88)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Cropper, GK Nelson, D Fuenmayor, D Bizama, D Junqua, M Hansen, M Ceren, F Pena
TOTAL SHOTS: 24 (Elis, 8); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (Manotas, 2); FOULS: 19 (Elis, Lundkvist, 5); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 5
Referee: Ismail Elfath
Assistant Referees: Kyle Atkins, Cory Richardson
4th Official: Victor Rivas
VAR: Joe Dickerson
Weather: Sunny, 82 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
