Three goals on his first start
Eleventh minute, 26th, 55th. That is how long Vincent Janssen needed to give Portland something the club had never had: a regular-season hat-trick. The Timbers beat Minnesota United 5-4 on Saturday night.
It was the Dutchman’s first start for Portland, and only his fourth appearance since arriving from Royal Antwerp at the end of July.
The opener came from the spot, drilled left-footed into the bottom-left corner. The second followed a David Da Costa pass, finished with his right. The third, a left-footed swivel tucked in at the base of the right post, put Portland back in front. They never gave it up again.
Try it for $0.99.
Three up, then 18 minutes of nothing going right
For a while it looked routine. A shot from Ariel Lassiter from outside the box bounced off the bar, hit Drake Callender and ended up in the net. Own goal, 2-0. Janssen’s strike in the 26th minute pushed the lead to three.
Then Minnesota clawed it all back. Marcus Caldeira cut the gap in the 32nd minute after a Joaquin Pereyra assist. Anthony Markanich bent a left-footed effort into the top corner six minutes later. A Portland defensive mistake gifted Caldeira the equaliser in the 50th.
Five minutes after that, Janssen had Portland ahead again.
A frantic finish
Kristoffer Velde made it 5-3 in the 71st minute with a left-footed strike from the left side of the box.
The Loons still would not go away. In the second minute of added time, Carlos Harvey released Tomas Chancalay, who volleyed home with his right foot. Too late.
The numbers told a different story from the scoreline. Minnesota had 15 shots to Portland’s 12, and seven on target to five. James Pantemis made three saves for the Timbers, while Callender had just the one at the other end.
Portland move up to 31 points with a record of 9 wins, 10 losses and 4 draws. Minnesota stay on 29.
Discover the rest of the football news on our mathodds website and app!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply