Portland Ends 12 Match Road Trip With a Win, Beat Philadelphia 3-1

A road trip that started it snowy Colorado on March 2nd finally ended nearly three months later in Philadelphia on May 25th. The Timbers played 12 straight road matches in between those dates, and came out with 14 points overall including a big time 3-1 win over eastern conference leading Philadelphia Union tonight.

The Timbers jumped on the Union early tonight, scoring 2 goals in the first half. But Philadelphia responded in the second. They got a goal back two minutes into the half and threatened for the next thirty minutes. It looked like the Union would equalize a number of times. But Timbers goalie Steve Clark had a couple nice saves as well as some luck as the Union hit the post a handful of times. Philadelphia had possession for 67 percent of the game and had 18 total shots, but Portland capitalized on their opportunities more only having 33 percent of possession and 9 total shots.

Newcomer Brian Fernandez has lived up to all the hype and is worth every penny of his lofty contract as he scored twice tonight, making it 3 goals in 2 matches for him. Diego Valeri added the clincher for the Timbers tonight, a beautifully placed ball that curled around an Union defender and found the bottom corner of the back of the net.

Portland will finally come home for their first home match of the season on June 1st against MLS league leading LAFC. Portland will end the season playing 17 out of their next 22 matches at newly renovated Providence Park.

Match highlights: