Ryan Johnson scored two goals in the second half to lead the Portland Timbers to a 2-0 win over the Houston Dynamo on Saturday night at JELD-WEN Field. The Dynamo (3-2-0; 9 points) are in third place in the Eastern Conference, three points behind the Montreal Impact and two points back of Sporting Kansas City. Johnson's second-half brace helped Portland (1-1-3; 6 points) to its first win of the season and first victory for new head coach Caleb Porter. The Dynamo had chances to open the scoring in the first half. In the 15th minute, Ricardo Clark lofted a pass into the Portland penalty area, where Giles Barnes settled the ball and fired a shot wide of the near post from a tight angle. On the play, Timbers defender David Horst suffered an injury and had to leave the game. Houston came close again in the 33rd minute as Andrew Driver bent a cross in front of the six-yard box and Cam Weaver's volley cleared the cross bar for a near miss. Just two minutes later, Weaver set up Brad Davis with a chest lay off, and Davis cleared space to fire a shot that required a diving save from Portland goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts. Johnson delivered the Timbers a 1-0 lead in the 55th minute, receiving an excellent cross from Diego Chara and driving a low shot past Dynamo goalkeeper Tally Hall, who nearly kept the shot out with a foot save. The Jamaican forward found the net again in the 73rd minute. Darlington Nagbe received the ball at the center circle and quickly played a through ball for Johnson, who drove into the box before slotting a shot home from 12 yards for his third goal of the year. Several Dynamo players reached milestones on Saturday. It was Brad Davis' 250th career regular season start in his 12-year MLS career. It was Bobby Boswell's 150th regular season appearance with the Dynamo. He is the fourth player to reach 150 regular season games for Houston, joining Davis, Corey Ashe and Brian Ching. Forward Omar Cummings entered as a substitute in the second half for the 150th regular season appearance of his career. It was also Adam Moffat's 75th career regular season start. The Dynamo return to Houston to host the Chicago Fire next Sunday (April 14) at BBVA Compass Stadium at 4 p.m. CT. The Dynamo are unbeaten in 34 consecutive home games in all competitions and can set a new MLS record with a win or a tie against the Fire. Next Match: Sunday, April 14, 4 p.m. CT, Houston Dynamo vs. Chicago Fire, BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, TX.
Since you're posting recaps of all the games (or you seem to be), is there anyway you can post highlights at the same time? I try to follow the Timbers, but living in SoCal, but not in a city with a team, I don't see much MLS coverage. I never think to check MLS's website for highlights, so if you could post something here that'd be great. It might drive more traffic to this forum. I know I'd probably post more.
Haha, thanks. Having to use 2 subs in the first 30 minutes is rough. That 2nd goal was really composed by Johnson.
