Portland Timbers won their first ever MLS Cup on Sunday night as they prevailed over Columbus Crew in a 2-1 victory at the Mapfre Stadium.
Despite being the pre-match underdogs the Timbers dominated most of the game and went ahead after just 27 seconds after a mistake from Columbus goalkeeper Steve Clarke.
Clarke held onto the ball for too long,which allowed Diego Valeri to charge down his clearance before the ball rolled into the net to the dismay of the home supporters.
Portland then doubled there advantage just six minuted later as Costa Rican striker Rodney Wallace did brilliantly to race ahead of the Crew defense to get on the end of Lucas Melano’s cross and head the ball pass a helpless Clarke.
Columbus grabbed a goal back shortly before half time when former Norwich and Middlesbrough man Kei Kamara profited on a poor piece of defending to bundle home his 26th goal of the season and set up a potentially enthralling second half.
However Columbus failed to create many chances in the second half and in truth they were lucky to not fall further behind as the Timbers’ Fanendo Adi rattled the post late on.
To the delight of the 2,000 travelling fans who made the 2,5000 mile trip from Portland to Ohio the away side hung on until the final whistle with relative ease.
The trophy was lifted by former Birmingham center back Liam Ridgewell who joined Portland in June last year.
