It was the Late Show with Diego Valeri once again for the Portland Timbers on Sunday night as the Argentine designated player scored the winner in a 3-2 win over the Montreal Impact at the Stade Saputo. Valeri also scored a late match-winner in the Timbers last match against the Colorado Rapids. Portland also received goals from Maximiliano Urruti and Will Johnson during an entertaining first half which saw the score tied at 2 at the break.
The Montreal Impact struck first in rather surprising fashion after Portland had been dominating the possession through the beginning of the match. It started with a run down the right wing from Justin Mapp. Mapp slid a low one-touch cross towards Andres Romero and Maxim Tissot at the top of the 18-yard box. The cross was behind the intended targets but Romero created space with a nifty touch around Danny O'Rourke before slamming a shot past Donovan Ricketts.
Will Johnson came extremely close to bringing the scoreline level off of a costless-kick in the 24th minute. He took a shot towards the low right corner of Evan Bush but it took a deflection off the wall; the ball took a sharp turn heading towards the left corner but Bush was able to find the low shot and get a hand on it.
Ten minutes later, the score would be tied after some excellent combination play in the midfield. Diego Chara put a pass into Will Johnson who one-touched the ball to Darlington Nagbe. Nagbe faked a shot before cutting into the middle of the park; he spotted Urruti in the space vacated by the collapsing defenders. A through ball was put onto Urruti's foot who turned and poked the ball past the diving Evan Bush into the far corner.
Valeri would bring his first big contribution to the match in the 39th minute drawing a penalty on Hassoun Camara. The Argentine took a rebound around the keeper towards the touchline where he was chopped down by the 28-year-old right back. Will Johnson converted the kick low and to the right to give Portland their first lead of the match.
Maxim Tissot would level the match just before halftime after the heavens opened up. The forecasted rain was finally starting to make its presence felt when the 22-year-old from Gatineau, Quebec scored his first goal of the season and second of his career. The play started with a Will Johnson giveaway before Montreal switched the field. They looked for a play in the middle but were turned away; a quick succession of one-touch passes costlessd Patrice Bernier behind the defense. He smartly cut the ball back inside finding Tissot in the middle for a sliding shot past Ricketts.
The second half would be full of near misses for both clubs but Diego Valeri did not miss his last scoring chance. Rodney Wallace was looking to put in Gaston Fernandez with a cross which was half-cleared by former Timber defender Mamadou Danso. The clearance fell right to the foot of Valeri who fired a curling shot past Bush for the match-winner.
Three vital points added to the Timbers column while Montreal still sits bottom of the East. Portland is in a tie for sixth place in the Western Conference with the Los Angeles Galaxy on 27 points with the Galaxy owning the first tie-breaker. Los Angeles has also played four fewer matches than the Timbers giving them a little wiggle room in the hunt for the post-season.
Portland has the disadvantage of having played more matches than all but one of the teams they are chasing; only FC Dallas has played the same amount as the Timbers. Portland plays a late-morning match at the StubHub Center next Saturday with the Galaxy. The match will be the first nationally-televised match on NBC during the 2014 regular season.