Omir Fernandez earns his first goal as a Timber in Saturday’s draw against Minnesota United FC

The Portland Timbers celebrated the 50th anniversary of the club last Saturday night at Providence Park as they hosted Minnesota United FC. Players from throughout the club’s history were honored during half time along with the presentation of the team’s All Time XI players as voted on by the fans. The Timbers Army created the largest TIFO in MLS history to commemorate the moment and cemented Portland’s legacy as Soccer City USA.

Portland head coach Phil Neville rotated players, giving some bench players a chance to start Including Christian Paredes and Dario Zuparic. Zac McGraw was back on the bench after a back injury. David Da Costa was still out due to a hamstring injury and will also be missing the All-Star Game.

Mora with the header in the match between Portland Timbers and Minnesota United at Providence Park (Photo by Diego G Diaz).

Portland found their rhythm quickly as the energy in the stadium was pulsing from the crowd to the pitch. Zuparic sent a long ball towards Minnesota’s goal in the 10^th minute.  The ball took a deflection off Minnesota’s Rosales and bounced to the feet of Santiago Moreno. Moreno sent the ball towards the center. Felipe Mora made contact, but his header was just a smidge wide to the right of the goal.

Bongokuhle Hlongwane gave Maxime Crépeau his first challenge of the night in the 14th minute. It was an easy save for a Max, who calmly dropped down to scoop up the shot.

Christian Paredes took two shots on goal in the 20th and 26th minute. The first was a right footed shot from the center outside the box that went over and the other was a header from the center of the box that missed to the right.

Ian Smith in the match between Portland Timbers and Minnesota United at Providence Park (Photo by Diego G Diaz).

Crépeau made a diving save during a set piece in the 23^rd minute and shut down Joaquín Pereyra in the 33^rd minute. Hlongwane tried again in the 34^th minute but his shot was blocked by Dario Zuparic.

There was a stoppage of play in the 38^th minute for a VAR Review of a play in the Timbers goal area. Originally a handball was called that would have resulted in a penalty, but that call was overturned upon the review.

The first yellow card of the match was awarded to Minnesota in the 39th minute by head referee Ricardo Fierro when Nicolas Romero roughly pushed Santi from behind. Ariel Lassiter was next in Fierro’s book with a yellow in the 43rd minute followed by the second caution for Minnesota going to Carlos Harvey in the 45th for a foul on Juan Mosquera.

Ari Lassiter in the match between Portland Timbers and Minnesota United at Providence Park (Photo by Diego G Diaz).

Both teams put in a valiant effort during stoppage time to get on the board in the 45 +4 Santiago Moreno found Felipe Mora in the center again. This time, Mora took a right footed shot rather than a header, but it was saved by Loons’ keeper Dayne St. Clair.

Minnesota made two substitutions at the half replacing Both yellow card recipients with defender Michael Boxall and midfielder Wil Trapp. The second half started with a free kick being awarded to Minnesota after a foul by Mosquera in the 46^th minute. Jefferson Diaz almost capitalized on the free kick with a header that was saved by Crépeau.

Phil Neville made his first substitution of the night in the 56th minute, bringing on Gauge Guerra for Ari Lassiter. On the previous play, Lassiter had taken a left footed shot from the left side of the box but missed to the right of goal.

Portland earned a corner kick in the 61st minute that was executed by Santiago Moreno. Finn Surman got a head on the ball, but his attempt missed to the right.

Santi Moreno in the match between Portland Timbers and Minnesota United at Providence Park (Photo by Diego G Diaz).

Minnesota made a tactical change with their substitution in the 61st minute bringing on defender Anthony Markanich for forward Bongokuhle Hlongwane.

Christian Paredes was pushed down from behind in the 65th minute by Joaquin Pereyra earning another yellow card for United FC.

The energy of the match Started to shift near the 70th minute. Both teams made a double substitution with Portland bringing on Diego Chará for David Ayala and Kevin Kelsy for Felipe Mora in the 74th minute.

The Timbers army was upset with Minnesota’s keeper for time wasting and became incredibly loud any time he touched the ball. This continued throughout the match and became more audible with each delay.

The TA was incredibly loud during a Minnesota corner kick in the 76th minute that came from a mistouch by Jimer Fory.

Anthony Markanich’s header for the first goal for Minnesota United (Photo by Diego G Diaz).

Julian Gressel’s service was saved by Fory, but the deflection ended up back at the feet of Gressel near the left touch line. He sent the ball in as if it were a free kick and Anthony Markanich was there with a header for the first goal of the match in the 77th minute.

Portland continued to press with an attempt by Ian Smith in the 81st that missed and another by Santiago Moreno in the 84th that was saved by St. Clair.

Max came up with a big save in the 84^th by quickly dropping to ground and sticking out a leg to block Tani Oluwaseyi’s shot from the left-hand side.

Portland made their last substitution in the 86th minute bringing on Omir Fernandez for Christian Paredes. The sound from the Timbers army was electric as Portland continued to fight for an equalizer.

At the 90th minute Santiago Moreno was fouled, earning the Timbers a free kick. Juan Mosquera’s shot hit the top crossbar and bounced away from the goal leading to sequential corner kicks for Portland.

Omir Fernandez with the equalizer (Photo by Diego G Diaz).

Moreno took service on the first corner and Ian Smith executed the second. Smith’s service took a deflection and ended up at the feet of Juan Mosquera. Mosquera set the ball towards the goal and connected with Omir Fernandez at the far post. Omir took a shot and earned his first goal as a Portland timber! Portland found their equalizer in the 90+2.

Only 4 minutes of stoppage time were played, and the final whistle blew with a 1-1 draw between the Portland Timbers and Minnesota United FC.