Midfielder Bernardo Anor scored five minutes into the match and the Columbus Crew defeated a 10-man Portland Timbers side 1-0 at Crew Stadium on Sunday evening. Portland (7-2-9, 30pts) played 79 minutes with 10 players after defender Pa Modou Kah was issued a straight red card in the 11th minute. Despite being a player short, the Timbers maintained 55 percent of the possession and continued to create chances at the equalizer down to the final whistle. It was just the second loss of the season for the Timbers, the first since March 9, ending an impressive unbeaten streak at 15 games. Anor scored in a second straight match to stake the Crew (6-8-5, 23pts) to a lead in the fifth minute. A corner kick from the left side by forward Federico HiguaÃ-n connected with Anor at the top of the six-yard box on the near side and Anor drove a header down inside the near post. HiguaÃ-n recorded a point in a fourth straight match. The goal by Anor was the first allowed by Portland's defense since June 8, ending a consecutive shutout streak of 283 minutes. The Timbers went down a man in the 11th minute following a red card issued to Kah as a result of a foul on Crew forward Aaron Schoenfeld inside the box. On the ensuing penalty kick, HiguaÃ-n pushed his attempt along ground wide of the left post. Portland had a chance to pull level in the 56th minute on one of its six corner kicks in the match. Diego Valeri's service from the right side found Andrew Jean-Baptiste on the back side of the penalty area and Jean-Baptiste's header back across the area struck the outside of the right post and deflected out. Timbers goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts recorded two of his three saves in the last 15 minutes of the second half to keep the match within reach. In the 75th minute, Ricketts was able to push with an out-stretch hand a diving header by Crew forward Ethan Finlay from near the left post just over the mark. Portland generated nine shots, including two quality looks on goal in the final minutes of the contest. In the 78th minute, Valeri lifted an open look from inside the box just over the mark. Three minutes from full time, forward Darlington Nagbe had a driven shot from just beyond the top left side of the box parried wide by Crew goalkeeper Matt Lampson. The Timbers return home to play host to the LA Galaxy on Saturday, July 13, at JELD-WEN Field in a nationally televised match on NBC Sports Network at 8 p.m. (Pacific). The match will also be broadcast live on 750 The Game and in Spanish on La Pantera 940AM. Notes: - The Timbers' 15 match unbeaten streak is an MLS club record and is tied for the fourth-longest unbeaten streak in MLS history. The LA Galaxy assembled 15-match unbeaten streaks on two occasions, spanning the 1997-98 and 2009-10 seasons. - Timbers head coach Caleb Porter owns the longest unbeaten streak by a first-year MLS head coach in the history of the league at 15 games. Portland's unbeaten run is the longest in MLS this season. - The road loss was the Timbers' first of the 2013 campaign, and ended a road unbeaten streak at 10 games, dating back to Oct. 21, 2012. Portland had become just the second club in MLS history to assemble a road unbeaten streak of 10 or more games. - The Timbers still have the fewest losses (2) this season in MLS. - The Timbers had been able to come back to earn a point in each of the last four matches (1-0-3) in which they conceded the first goal. - The Crew take the lead in the all-time MLS series against the Timbers with a 2-1-0 record. There have been just three combined goals in the series between the two clubs. - Sunday's match marked just the third time in 18 league games in which the Timbers were held scoreless. - The 36 combined fouls between the two sides was the second-most combined fouls in a Timbers match this season. Portland and Seattle Sounders FC combined for 37 fouls on March 16. - The red card issued to Pa Modou Kah in the 11th minute against the Crew was the second given to a Timbers player this season and the earliest given to the Timbers as an MLS club. - Goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts made his 120th regular-season start in his MLS career and ranks among league leaders for active goalkeepers in starts. - The goal in the fifth minute by Columbus' Bernardo Anor snapped Ricketts' individual shutout streak at 401 consecutive minutes (May 18-25; June 15-July 6) - a Timbers MLS record. The last goal Ricketts had allowed was on May 18 in the 54th minute at Vancouver. - Ricketts' 401-minute shutout streak is the third-longest in MLS this season and he owns two shutout streaks of 300 or more minutes in 2013. - Anor's strike was the second-quickest goal against the Timbers this season and ended the club's run of consecutive shutout play at 283 minutes. It was also the first goal scored directly off a corner kick against Portland's defense in 2013. - Defender Michael Harrington returned to the Starting XI against Columbus after missing one game due to an ankle injury sustained against the Galaxy on June 19. - Midfielder Michael Nanchoff made his first MLS appearance as a member of the Timbers, entering the match as a substitute in the 82nd minute. - Timbers midfielder Will Johnson (Canada) and Rodney Wallace (Costa Rica) and forward Frederic Piquionne (Martinique) were unavailable for Sunday's match due to national team duty for the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup. - Earlier in the day, Will Johnson was named to the 2013 MLS All-Star Fan XI as one of the top vote-getters for the 2013 AT&T MLS All-Star Game by fans. It is the second All-Star selection of his MLS career.
