Felipe Mora scored two minutes into second-half stoppage time to give the Portland Timbers a 2-2 home draw with FC Dallas on Wednesday.
Just four minutes after Petar Musa gave Dallas (7-4-5, 26 points) a 2-1 lead, Mora converted from the center of the box after a tremendous cross from Kristoffer Velde.
Mora’s late strike prevented FC Dallas’ first win in Portland in more than a decade.
Patrickson Delgado established the Toros’ first lead with a late dagger of a goal a minute into first-half stoppage time. Kevin Kelsy collected his team-leading eighth goal for Portland’s first equalizer in the 66th minute.
Kelsy also put two quality chances off the post in the match, and the striker came up limping after his second near-miss off the iron in the 79th minute. Kelsy was substituted out for Mora two minutes later.
Beyond all the help from his goalposts, Toros goalkeeper Daniel made two saves in his Dallas debut. FC Dallas acquired Daniel in a trade from the San Jose Earthquakes on July 9.
A quiet offensive performance for the Timbers (5-8-3, 18 points) was suddenly sparked when Velde came off the bench in the 55th minute, and Velde hit a goalpost of his own the 63rd minute.
That same goalpost returned the favor for the Timbers in the 67th minute. Cole Bassett’s shot bounced off defender Herman Johansson and then the post, with the ball finally deflecting to Kelsy for the close-range tap-in.
After starring for Croatia at the FIFA World Cup, Musa was given some extra rest by FC Dallas in training sessions, and the star striker wasn’t in Wednesday’s starting lineup.
Twenty-seven minutes after entering as a substitute, Musa made some canny moves to evade two Portland defenders and then deposited a shot into the bottom corner. It was Musa’s 13th goal of the season, tying him with Hugo Cuypers of the Chicago Fire for the league lead.
–Field Level Media
