Sebastian Berhalter scored in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time to give the host Vancouver Whitecaps a stunning, come-from-behind 3-2 victory Saturday over the Portland Timbers.
Berhalter’s tally was the second in stoppage time for Vancouver (5-1-0, 15 points), which got the tying goal when Thomas Muller converted a penalty kick.
Berhalter’s goal came after he got the ball at the top of the box off a deflection. He fired the ball past a diving James Pantemis (six saves), who got a piece of the ball but not enough to keep it out of the net.
Muller’s right-footed penalty kick, which went into the top-right corner, came after Portland’s Antony was called for a hand ball when he blocked a shot while in the penalty box.
The victory was the second this year for the Whitecaps over the Cascadia Cup rival Timbers, who fell 4-1 at home on March 7.
Playing for the first time this year, Juan Mosquera had a goal and an assist in the first half for Portland (1-4-1, 4 points), which extended its streak of games without a win to five.
Vancouver opened the scoring in the sixth minute when keeper Yohei Takaoka sent a line-drive goal kick downfield. Edier Ocampo beat an onrushing Pantemis to the ball and rolled it into the open goal for a 1-0 lead.
The Timbers got the equalizer in the 36th minute when a looping clearance by the Whitecaps found the foot of Mosquera, who fired a right-footed first-timer from just beyond the box into the top-left corner.
Mosquera, who had been sidelined by an ankle injury, set up Portland’s go-ahead goal in stoppage time of the first half when he fed David Da Costa.
From the right side of the box, Da Costa tapped a delicate floater off his right instep over Takaoka (two saves) and into the net for a 2-1 lead.
Newly acquired midfielder Jose Caicedo was in the starting lineup for Portland, making his MLS debut. The 23-year-old Colombian arrived from Pumas UNAM of Liga MX.
Portland’s Diego Chara received a yellow card, the 124th of his career giving him the all-time MLS lead over Kyle Beckerman.
– Field Level Media
