An equalizer in the 89th minute
Kristoffer Velde leveled it in the 89th minute last night. Portland snatched a 2-2 draw at home to St. Louis City.
The Norwegian was celebrating his 27th birthday. He left with a brace. For the equalizer, he finished off a well-worked set piece, set up by Cole Bassett, with a crisp strike that gave Roman Burki no chance.
Bassett almost won it for the Timbers in the second minute of stoppage time. His header from the middle of the box drifted just wide of the left post.
Portland (9-10-5, 32 points) took a point after controlling long spells in both halves. They finished with 15 shots to the visitors’ 11, but St. Louis were sharper where it mattered: four efforts on target to three.
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St. Louis led for 69 minutes in total and still could not finish the job. They do, however, leave with a point and a run still intact: 14 MLS games unbeaten (9-0-5), including 10 without defeat since the World Cup break (6-0-4).
Rafael Navarro marked his first start for St. Louis with a brace. The striker, signed from the Colorado Rapids last week for at least $12 million, opened the scoring after 35 seconds. Portland coughed up the ball in their own half, Navarro won the shoulder battle inside the six-yard box, and he slid the finish into the right corner.
He struck again in the 51st minute, fighting at the near post to turn in a deflected Alexandru Matan cross with his head. It was his 12th goal of the season, including the 10 he scored for Colorado.
A free kick with a 3% chance of going in
Velde’s first reply came in the 32nd minute. The free kick from wide out bent around the wall and left Burki stranded. Match data had the chance of a goal at 3%.
St. Louis had one last shot at taking all three points in the fourth minute of stoppage time. James Pantemis kept out Damion Downs’ effort.
The two sides head home with very different feelings. St. Louis (10-6-8, 38 points) stay near the top and remain unbeaten for 14 matches. Portland are still below the 50% win mark and will need more than late scrambles if they want to stay in the hunt.
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