Whitecaps escape two-goal hole, stun Timbers

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:03 am

Cristian Dajome converted an 82nd-minute penalty kick and the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps rallied from a two-goal halft-ime deficit to complete a crucial 3-2 victory over the Portland Timbers on Wednesday night.

Before Dajome scored his ninth goal of the season, Brian White scored his team-leading 11th to tie the match, and Deiber Caicedo began the second-half comeback with his fifth.

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It all amounted to just a second away victory of the season for Vancouver (11-9-10, 43 points), a result that moved the Whitecaps into seventh place in the Western Conference, the final playoff position.

They also improved to 6-2-2 under interim manager Vanni Sartini after the dismissal of Marc Dos Santos.

Dairon Asprilla scored his ninth goal of a breakout season for Portland (14-12-4, 46 points). Yimmi Chara added his sixth for the Timbers, who remain in fourth in the West despite the defeat.

Portland lost for a second time this season when scoring at least two goals, with both those defeats coming at home. The Timbers fell 6-2 to visiting Seattle in mid-August.

The Timbers responded from that defeat with an eight-game unbeaten run that included seven victories, bBut they've now lost two in a row after Vancouver's heroic comeback.

Cristian Dajome scored in a five-goal MLS thriller.
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

It began in the 63rd minute when Caicedo received Janio Bikel's pass at midfield, sensed a softness in the Timbers' defense, surged forward into the penalty area and then drove a low finish past Steve Clark's dive and inside the left post.

Caicedo was involved in the equalizer 12 minutes later, although it appeared he may have wasted a chance by playing a ball too far in front of Bruno Gaspar.

Gaspar reached it before it crossed the end line to drive a cross back in front of the goal, and White met it with a powerful looping header into the far right corner.

Then it was Dajome who created the match-winning penalty when he induced referee Guido Gonzalez into whistling a foul on Josecarlos Van Rankin.

Replays showed the contact was slight -- and perhaps created by Dajome -- but the call stood, and Dajome easily beat Clark with a confidently taken penalty.