The Portland Timbers had a night where at times they looked very good, especially in the second half, and had many chances to leave Providence Park with a win. But they paid the price for their last-minute effort to steal a win by giving up a last second goal to Bongokuhle Hlongwane, and end up on a short end of a 1-0 loss to Minnesota United.
Minnesota would have the first really good chance of the match, in the 19th minute, when Luis Amarilla managed to evade the Timbers defense and got a close-in shot that was smothered by Timbers goalkeeper Aljaž Ivačič. In the 25th minute Minnesota’s Hassani Dotson had a good low shot from outside the box saved by Ivačič.
Then in the 28th minute came the best chance of the first half for the Loons, when an absolute blast from outside the box by Joseph Rosales was barely tipped by Ivačič and kept the match scoreless.
In the 36th minute the Timbers would have a great chance of their own when Franck Boli made a nice nutmeg move on a United defender before another Minnesota defender recovered and cleared the ball at the last second. In the 40th minute the Timbers had another good opportunity when Zac McGraw got his head on an Evander free kick but put the shot just wide. The match was 0-0 at the break.
As the second half progressed the Timbers started to press more, and in the 66th minute were just inches away from taking the lead when an Evander chip was off the crossbar. In the 73rd minute another nice Evander chip forced a nice save by Minnesota goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair.
In the 78th minute Minnesota would get a great chance when a close-in shot by Kervin Arriaga was blocked on the line by Cristhian Paredes.
In the 89th minute the Timbers nearly took the late victory when a blast from Claudio Bravo from the top of the box was barely defected wide. Off the ensuing corner kick, St. Clair made a brilliant save on what appeared to be an own-goal chance to keep the match level.
And then the unthinkable happened, just after the fourth minute of four minutes of announced stoppage time had pass, Minnesota stole the late win when the Timbers allowed a late chance, and Bongokuhle Hlongwane put in the low shot from the top of the box as time expired, and just like that, the match had slipped away in a 1-0 loss.
Aljaž Ivačič had four saves for the Timbers, while Dayne St. Clair also recorded four for Minnesota.
Timbers fall 1-0 at home after last-minute Minnesota United FC goal | Timbers website
