David Da Costa recorded the tiebreaking goal in the second half and Ian Smith scored in the first half to help the Portland Timbers notch a 2-1 victory over the visiting New England Revolution on Saturday night.
Luca Langoni scored the goal for New England.
The match was the first at Providence Park for Revolution coach Caleb Porter since 2017, when he finished a five-year stint as coach of the Timbers. Porter guided Portland to the 2015 MLS title.
Portland (9-5-6, 33 points) is undefeated in 10 straight home contests (6-0-4) since losing its season opener against the Vancouver Whitecaps on Feb. 23.
New England (6-7-6, 24 points) saw a seven-match road unbeaten stretch end (4-0-3).
Da Costa scored the go-ahead goal in the 72nd minute when he saw a little bit of daylight despite being stationed outside of the box. He left fly with a blistering right-footed shot into the right corner of the net.
New England’s Maxi Urruti sent a right-footed blast over the net in the first minute of second-half stoppage time.
Aljaz Ivacic made three saves for the Revolution, while Portland’s Maxime Crepeau stopped two shots.
The Timbers had a 14-13 edge in shots and placed five on target to New England’s three.
Portland took a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute when Smith ripped a left-footed shot from the left side into the top right-hand corner of the net.
The Revolution knotted the score 15 minutes later. Carles Gil booted a long ball out of his own zone and Langoni chased it down. He dribbled toward the net and Portland’s Kamal Miller slid to prevent a shot, leading to Langoni stopping and booting a left-footed shot past Crepeau in the 35th minute.
New England’s Leo Campana had a solid opportunity two minutes ago. He received a pass and was right in front of the net but lifted his left-footed shot over the crossbar.
Campana also came up empty in the 57th minute when his left-footer was stopped by Crepeau.
After Portland moved ahead, Santiago Moreno had chances with his right foot in both the 77th and 86th minutes with Ivacic making saves both times. After the latter attempt, Da Costa got the rebound and set a hard shot just right of the net.
New England’s Peyton Miller had a big chance in the 17th minute but his left-footed blast was stopped by Crepeau.
–Field Level Media
