Felipe Mora scored a goal and added an assist as the host Portland Timbers defeated the rival Vancouver Whitecaps 2-0 on Saturday night.
Jonathan Rodriguez also scored for Portland (7-7-6, 27 points), extending the Timbers’ unbeaten streak to six matches (4-0-2) with the victory. Goalkeeper James Pantemis picked up his third clean sheet of the season, stopping Vancouver’s lone shot on target.
The Timbers have just one loss in their past eight matches. The victory moved 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, as the Whitecaps also fell 3-2 to the New England Revolution last Saturday. 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 possession in the first half and led 2-0 after 45-plus minutes.
The Timbers opened the scoring in the 26th minute, as Evander da Silva Ferreira 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 past nine matches.
da Silva Ferreira has eight goal contributions over his past six matches.
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 penalty 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
