Photo by Jose M. Romero
By JOSE M. ROMERO
PORTLAND, Ore. -- It rained and rained and rained some more, but 18,627 fans packed into compact Jeld-Wen Field for the Portland Timbers' MLS home opener couldn't have cared less.
They witnessed history, as the Timbers got two goals from striker Jorge Perlaza in a breakout performance for both him and the Timbers' attack in a 4-2 win over the Chicago Fire Thursday night, the first MLS win in club history.
It wasn't pretty soccer. The rain made the new turf slick and waterlogged as players slipped and slid around. The defenses weren't very solid -- one defender for each team was charged with an own-goal -- and there was some rough play here and there in the form of two reckless tackle yellow cards for both teams.
But the Timbers made it happen for their adoring fans, especially the rowdy lot in the north end stands, the Timbers Army.
In the 11th minute, the fans thought they had the Timbers' first MLS goal at home, but Kenny Cooper's header into the net was disallowed.
It happened in the 29th minute. Perlaza made a run, hesitated to let his defender go by him and scored with Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson out of the net. Khalif Alhassan got the Timbers' assist.
In the 38th minute, Rodney Wallace, Portland's right back, struck from long range after a free kick from Jack Jewsbury came out to Wallace on a deflection, and he finished well.
The Timbers took a 2-0 lead to halftime and made it 3-0 on Perlaza's second goal, this one a rebound shot in the 47th minute.
The Fire (1-2-1) didn't go away. An own-goal by the Timbers' Eric Brunner on an attempted clearance in the 67th minute made it 3-1. Then Marco Pappa beat Portland keeper Jake Gleeson in the 80th minute, and for just a moment, the stadium got quieter.
In the 84th minute, a scrum in front of Johnson following a corner kick resulted in Portland's Futty Danso knocking the ball off the Fire's Dasan Robinson for an own-goal. All the Timbers had to do was play out the clock, and after they did, players took a lap around the field and stopped to go into the stands with the Timbers Army.
Perlaza and Wallace were handed their customary slabs of wood, a Timbers' postgame tradition for scorers.
Diego Chaves, who has been off to a grand start to his Fire career with three goals already to lead the team, took six shots but couldn't get one past Gleeson.
"I don't think you'll see an atmosphere like that in American soccer history," Timbers coach John Spencer said after the game. "I think it was tremendous. I thought it was electrifying when the first goal went in, it was pretty incredible."
