Three goals, and Portland still had to hang on
Vincent Janssen picked his first start for the Portland Timbers to write himself into the club record book. The Dutchman scored in the 11th, 26th and 55th minutes overnight, the first regular-season hat trick in Timbers history, and Portland still needed a fifth goal to beat Minnesota United 5-4.
Janssen opened with a left-footed penalty into the corner. Nine minutes later Ariel Lassiter smashed a right-footed effort from outside the box that clipped the crossbar, bounced off goalkeeper Drake Callender and dropped over the line for 2-0. David Da Costa then fed Janssen in the 26th and the striker swept in his second.
Three up inside half an hour. Minnesota did not accept it.
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The Loons climbed all the way back
Joaquin Pereyra found Marcus Caldeira in the 32nd minute and the forward drilled a right-footed shot into the top of the net. Six minutes later Anthony Markanich curled a left-footer into the top corner. A Portland error early in the second half handed Caldeira his second and the game was level at 3-3 inside 50 minutes.
Janssen settled it five minutes after that, twisting away from his marker and finding the bottom right corner with his left foot. Kristoffer Velde added a fifth in the 71st. Tomas Chancalay volleyed in Carlos Harvey’s pass two minutes into stoppage time to make the closing seconds uncomfortable, but Portland held.
The shot count told the story of how open it was. Minnesota outshot the hosts 15-12 and led 7-5 on target. James Pantemis made three saves at one end, Callender one at the other.
A transfer that is already paying
Janssen arrived from Royal Antwerp in late July and this was only his fourth appearance for the club. Portland move to 31 points from 23 matches at 9-10-4, one clear of Minnesota on 29 from their 7-8-8 record, with both sides scrapping over the same Western Conference playoff positions.
For a team that has struggled to convert territory into goals all season, a centre forward who scores three in his first start changes the arithmetic of the run-in.
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