Timbers, Minnesota United FC Play to Thrilling 4-4 Draw

July 30, 2022 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – Portland Timbers News Release

PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Timbers rallied from a 3-1 halftime deficit to claim a point on the road with a 4-4 draw against Minnesota United FC at Allianz Field on Saturday afternoon, extending their unbeaten streak to eight games. Sebastián Blanco recorded a brace and Jaroslaw Niezgoda tallied his team-leading ninth goal of the season.

Momentum

Portland extended its unbeaten run to eight matches, posting a record of 4-0-4 during that span. The Timbers are also unbeaten in their last four matches on the road with a record of 1-0-3. During its unbeaten run, Portland has outscored its opponents 18-10, tallying multiple goals in six of those eight matches. Niezgoda has scored a team-best six goals during this run for the Timbers. Moreno has three goals and four assists.

Blanco Bangers

Blanco made history today when he opened the scoring in the match with a goal in the first 13 seconds. Blanco’s goal was the fifth-fastest goal scored in MLS history, including playoffs, and the fastest since Justin Meram’s goal after nine seconds in the 2015 playoffs. Blanco is the first player in club history to score multiple goals in consecutive MLS matches against a single opponent (including playoffs) and the first player to do so against Minnesota. The Argentine recorded his second brace of the season, and his sixth brace in MLS competition.

Goal Scorers & Playmakers

Niezgoda scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season and recorded his second assist of the campaign. Niezgoda has four goals and two assists in his last five games. Niezgoda is the eighth player to register multiple assists in 2022 for the Timbers. Blanco notched his fifth goal of the season in the match. Santiago Moreno tallied two assists, recording his first career multi-assist game with Portland. Moreno increased his season total to seven assists. He is one of three players on the team with at least seven assists along with Blanco and Yimmi Chara. Moreno also became the fourth different player to record a multi-assist game for the Timbers in 2022, joining Eryk Williamson, Cristhian Paredes and Blanco. Yimmi Chara recorded his team-leading eighth assist of the season.

Goal-Scoring Plays

POR – Sebastián Blanco (Jaroslaw Niezgoda, Santiago Moreno), 1st minute: The four-pass sequence started with Sebastián Blanco passing the ball to Santiago Moreno, who on his first touch weaved the ball to Jaroslaw Niezgoda at the top of…