September 19, 2021 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – Portland Timbers News Release
PORTLAND, Ore. – A game-winning goal from George Fochive lifted the Portland Timbers over LAFC with a 2-1 victory at Providence Park on Sunday evening. Dairon Asprilla scored the opening goal in the 21st minute before Fochive helped secure three points for Portland in the 68th minute. The Timbers extended their unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1).
Undefeated Streak
Tonight’s victory was Portland’s fourth in the last five matches (4-0-1). The Timbers improved to 11-10-4 overall after tonight’s match. Most recently, Portland drew with Colorado 2-2 at home on Wednesday night, and recorded three straight shutout wins on the road for the first time in the club’s MLS history with its win against Vancouver (Sept. 10).
Diego Valeri hits 300
Diego Valeri recorded his 300th appearance across all competitions with Portland tonight when he came into the match as a second-half substitution in the 61st minute. Valeri, who joined the Timbers in the 2013 season, has registered 100 goals and 104 assists in his 300 appearances (264 starts). In the 2021 campaign, the Lanus, Argentina native has made 27 appearances across all competitions, tallying four goals and four assists.
Heading to the Top
The Timbers have scored 36 goals this season, 10 of which have been headers. Both of Portland’s goals tonight came as headers from Asprilla and Fochive. Asprilla’s goal was his sixth of the season and first headed goal in the 2021 campaign. Fochive scored his second of the season after recording his first MLS goal against Seattle Sounders FC (Aug. 15). Felipe Mora leads the team and the league with six headed goals.
Goal-Scoring Plays
POR – Dairon Asprilla, 21st minute: Coming off a corner-kick, Sebastián Blanco headed the ball towards the goal and hit the crossbar. Asprilla, near the far-post goal line, headed the rebound into the back of the net.
LAFC – Cristian Arango, 27th minute: A handball was called on Blanco through a freekick from LAFC. Cristian Arango converted the penalty kick.
POR – George Fochive, 68th minute: Blanco sent a left-footed cross into the box from the left wing. Taking a deflection off an LAFC defender, George Fochive drove a header into the goal from right side of the six-yard box.
Notes
The Timbers are undefeated in the last five matches (4-0-1), improving their overall record in the 2021 campaign to 11-10-4.
Portland improved its home record in the 2021 regular-season campaign tonight to 7-3-2.
The Timbers are unbeaten against LAFC in their last four matchups (2-0-2).
Portland has scored a goal in 15 consecutive matches this season.
Out of Portland’s 36 goals this season, 10 have been headers.
The Timbers are 10-1-1 when scoring first this season.
Dairon Asprilla scored his sixth goal of the 2021 campaign and 13th in the regular season with the Timbers since 2014.
Asprilla is the only Timbers player to appear in all 25 regular season matches in 2021.
George Fochive scored his second goal of the 2021 campaign after scoring his first MLS goal against Seattle on Aug. 15.
Fochive is the eighth player to record two or more goals for the Timbers this season.
Diego Valeri earned his 300th career appearance in all competitions for the Timbers.
Claudio Bravo leads the league in tackles won (47) and is in third place in the league for interceptions made (50).
Larrys Mabiala received his sixth card and will not be available for the next match due to yellow card accumulation.
Dario Zuparic leads the team in minutes played this season with 1890.
Next Game
The Timbers will continue their three-game home stretch at Providence Park next weekend when they host Real Salt Lake on Saturday, Sept. 25. The match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. (Pacific) and will feature a local broadcast FOX 12 Plus with radio broadcasts on 750 The Game (English) and La GranD 1150AM/93.5 FM (Spanish).
Portland Timbers (11-10-4, 37pts) vs. Los Angeles FC (9-10-6, 33pts)
Sept. 19, 2021 – Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
Los Angeles FC 1 0 1
Portland Timbers 1 1 2
Scoring Summary:
POR: Asprilla, 21
LAFC: Arango (penalty kick), 27
POR: Fochive, 68
Misconduct Summary:
POR: Mabiala (caution), 24
POR: Blanco (caution), 27
POR: Bravo (caution), 42
POR: Valeri (caution), 83
Lineups:
POR: GK Clark, D Van Rankin, D Mabiala, D Zuparic, D Bravo, M D. Chara ©, M Paredes (Fochive, 61), M Y. Chara (Moreno, 78), M Blanco (Loría, 78), M Asprilla (Valeri, 61), F Mora (Niezgoda, 88)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Ivacic, D Bonilla, D McGraw, M Zambrano
TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Asprilla, Blanco, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Five players tied, 1); FOULS: 11 (D. Chara, 3); OFFSIDES: 4; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 1
LAFC: GK Romero, D Fall, D Murillo, D Ibeagha (Palacios, 75), D Kim, M Crisostomo, M Ginella (Musovski, 75), M Cifuentes (Duke, 85), F Arango, F Edwards (Blessing, 75), F Rodríguez
Substitutes Not Used: GK Blackman, D Harvey, D Farfan, F Jennings, F Torres
TOTAL SHOTS: 14 (Cifuentes, Rodríguez, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2 (Arango, Cifuentes, 1); FOULS: 13 (Arango, 3); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 9; SAVES: 3
Referee: Chris Penso
Assistant Referees: Apolinar Mariscal Chantal Boudrawu
Fourth official: Malik Baldawi
VAR: Joshua Patlak
Attendance: 21,311
Weather: Rainy, 67 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
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