Velde scores twice as Portland holds off St. Louis 3-2

Portland beat St. Louis 3-2 at Energizer Park after scoring three times around halftime. Kristoffer Velde scored twice and was the player of the game with a Chirp Rating of 8.4. The Timbers moved to 11-7-14.

Velde opened the scoring in the 42nd minute. He hit a right-footed shot from the left side of the box into the bottom right corner, set up by Cole Bassett. David da Costa made it 2-0 in first-half stoppage time (45'+3') from the centre of the box, with Jimer Fory assisting. Three minutes after the break, Velde struck again. Da Costa laid it off after a fast break, and Velde finished into the top right corner for 3-0.

St. Louis (14-9-8) pulled back late. Daniel Edelman headed in a Carlo Holse cross in the 58th minute to make it 3-1. Jeong Sang-Bin added a long-range finish in the 90th minute plus one to cut it to 3-2. Portland held on from there.

Chirp's Sim had St. Louis at 58% before the game. It missed.