In a match that saw the Portland Timbers dominating possession, passes, and shots over Chivas USA through much of the first 60 minutes, it took a quick confident run of play to break the deadlock.
Darlington Nagbe carried forward before playing out to Jorge Villafaña on his left in an overlapping run. Villafaña one-timed a blistering cross to the top of the six to find Fanendo Adi on perfectly timed run. Adi let the ball come across his body before easily slotting it home for a 1-0 Timbers lead.
A mere six minutes later with Diego Valeri having just come into the match, the creative midfielder stole the ball from the Goats' defense. Taking his time, he unlocked the CHivas USA backline with a perfect pass for Adi who timed his run. Adi, after receiving the ball, went in 1v1 on Dan Kennedy, cut to his left, waited for him to go down, and then calmly tapped the ball in with his left foot. The Timbers jumped to a 2-0 lead.
