Felipe Mora scored a goal and added an assist as the Timbers defeated their Cascadia rival Vancouver Whitecaps 2-0 on Saturday night in Portland, Ore.
Jonathan Rodriguez also scored for Portland (7-7-6, 27 points), extending its unbeaten streak to six matches with the victory. Goalkeeper James Pantemis picked up his fourth clean sheet of the season, stopping Vancouver’s lone shot on target.
The Timbers have just one loss in eight matches. The victory moves Portland past Vancouver and into sixth place in the Western Conference standings.
Vancouver (7-7-4, 25 points) has now lost back-to-back matches – the Whitecaps fell 3-2 to New England last weekend. Vancouver was held without a goal for the first time since a 1-0 loss in Colorado on May 15.
With the loss, the Whitecaps dropped to ninth in the Western Conference table.
Vancouver midfielder Alessandro Schopf was sent off in the 52nd minute after picking up his second yellow card of the match for his foul on Santiago Moreno.
Portland controlled the first half possession and led 2-0 after 45 minutes.
The Timbers opened the scoring in the 26th minute as Evander sent a cross to Rodriguez, who put a right-footed strike past Yohei Takaoka, far side, for his eighth goal of the season. The Uruguayan now has nine goal contributions in his last nine matches.
Evander has eight goal contributions over his last six outings.
Mora doubled Portland’s lead in the 43rd minute, picking up a Moreno pass and beating Takaoka with a right-footed strike from the top of the area for his ninth goal of the season.
Saturday was the second of three meetings between the two clubs. The Whitecaps won the first meeting 3-2 in Vancouver on March 30. The clubs wrap up the season series north of the border on Sept. 28.
–Field Level Media
