PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Diego Valeri scored twice and David Guzman got the game-winner as the Portland Timbers beat the Houston Dynamo 4-2 Saturday night.
Fanendo Adi also scored for Portland and Jake Gleeson finished with four saves.
“I just thought we played with a real edge, a real ruthlessness that I’ve been wanting to see, and we showed that,” Portland coach Caleb Porter said. “I’m real pleased, obviously, with that second half.”
Erick Torres and Romell Quioto had the goals for Houston, and Tyler Deric had three saves.
“It was a good game,” Houston coach Wilmer Cabrera said. “It was a fun game - especially for them, of course, at the end. For us, it was the first test away, I believe, and I think, we all saw in the first half when the team came from behind and it was solid and it was very good. The second half, we talked about being sharp from the very beginning, and it didn’t happen. We lost total control. The first 15 minutes of the second half, they took over, they scored two goals and we never came back from those lapses, from that situation. It was tough.”
Tied 1-1, Houston took the lead in first half stoppage time. Alberth Elis threaded a pass through the Portland penalty area to Quioto, who took a touch to control the ball, then slid a pass past Gleeson for his third goal of the season.
Portland started its comeback in the 58th minute, when Zarek Valentin’s cross from the left found an unguarded Valeri to head home from 6 yards out for his second of the game and fourth in the first three games this season.
The Timbers took a 3-2 lead in the 66th minute. On the edge of the Houston penalty area, Guzman knocked an attempted clearance to Darlington Nagbe, who spun and slipped a return pass behind the Dynamo defense to Guzman. The Portland midfielder then faked a shot, dribbled past a sliding Deric and knocked home his first goal of the season.
Adi added an insurance goal in the 88th minute, running down the ball near the top of the area, then danced around Houston defenders for a few moments before banking a shot off the far post for his third goal.
“I think it shows the heart that they have, the hunger they have, the fight they have,” Porter said of his team’s comeback. “And it’s every single player on the pitch. Every single player.”
In the 11th minute, a Sebastian Blanco cross in the penalty area hit DeMarcus Beasley ion the arm, earning the Timbers a penalty kick. Valeri converted the penalty by driving a shot straight down the middle as Deric dove to his right.
The Dynamo tied the score in the 37th minute in similar fashion. Torres’ free kick on the edge of the penalty area hit Diego Chara on the elbow, and Torres then blasted the ensuing penalty kick past Gleeson’s reach for his third goal of the season.
“We knew the main thing to deal with in this game was going to be the counter-attack, so that end of the half was very disappointing,” Porter said.
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