Kristoffer Velde’s goal in the 89th minute Wednesday night enabled the Portland Timbers to salvage a 2-2 draw with visiting St. Louis City.
Velde finished with two goals on his 27th birthday, while St. Louis got a brace from Rafael Navarro in his first start for the team.
On the tying tally, Velde converted off service from Cole Bassett on a well-run set piece, lasering a kick past Roman Burki. The goal enabled Portland (9-10-5, 32 points) to earn a point after controlling long stretches of play in each half.
Bassett nearly produced a match winner in the second minute of second-half stoppage time, but a header from the middle of the penalty box trickled wide of the left post.
St. Louis City (10-6-8, 38 points) owned one-goal leads for a total of 69 minutes but settled for the tie. Still, St. Louis remains unbeaten in 14 MLS fixtures (9-0-5) and is 6-0-4 since the World Cup break.
Navarro, who was acquired from the Colorado Rapids for at least $12 million last week, looked to be worth the money in his second appearance for St. Louis. Consistently opening up the Timbers’ defensive shape with quality runs, Navarro wasted no time making an impact.
A turnover in Portland’s end of the field put the early spotlight on Navarro. Muscling through a defender for a centering pass in the 6-yard box, Navarro got his foot on it and poked it into the right corner 35 seconds into the match.
Velde leveled the contest in the 32nd minute with a spectacular goal. His free kick was estimated to have a goal expectancy of 3%, but he curled it around the wall and past a helpless Burki.
Navarro put St. Louis back ahead in the 51st minute, running to the left post and taking a deflected pass from Alexandru Matan. Navarro put his header in the back of the net for his 12th marker of the season, including his 10 tallies with Colorado.
St. Louis had one last crack at pulling out three points in the fourth minute of second-half steppage time, but Damion Downs’ shot was denied by James Pantemis.
Portland squeezed off 15 shots to St. Louis’ 11, but the visitors had a 4-3 edge in shots on target.
–Field Level Media
