VANCOUVER — Sebastian Blanco scored early in the second half as the undermanned Portland Timbers snapped a six-game winless streak with a gutsy 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday afternoon.
Jeremy Ebobisse had Portland's other goal and also set up the winner, while Andrew Jacobson replied for Vancouver.
With injuries, suspensions and the CONCACAF Gold Cup wreaking havoc on the Timbers' roster, Ebobisse opened the scoring in the 14th minute in his first start in Major League Soccer before Jacobson tied things up in the 45th.
Blanco then gave his team its second lead in the 49th minute when the Argentine midfielder sliced through the Whitecaps defence before getting a backheel return pass from Ebobisse and rolling the ball past a helpless David Ousted to send the Timbers' boisterous travelling supporters at B.C. Place Stadium into a frenzy.
Vancouver (8-8-3) was coming off consecutive wins — 3-2 over New York City FC at home on July 5 and a 1-0 road triumph over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Wednesday — while Portland (8-8-6) entered play on a 0-3-3 run.
The Timbers, who started the season 5-2-1, picked up their first victory in MLS since June 10. Portland now sits three points up on Vancouver for fourth in the Western Conference, but the Whitecaps do have three games in hand.
The Timbers grabbed an unexpected lead thanks to some sloppy Vancouver defending. The Whitecaps cleared a corner only as far as Blanco, who fed Dairon Asprilla on the right. Asprilla in turn fired a shot across the face of goal that Ebobisse got a piece of to beat Ousted for the rookie's first in MLS.
The teams traded a couple of chances as the half wore on before Vancouver finally got an equalizer in the 45th minute.
Whitecaps defender Tim Parker, wearing the captain's armband with Kendall Waston not yet back from the Gold Cup, got his head to a Cristian Bolanos corner at the near post, and Jacobson redirected the ball over the line for his second goal of the season.
Looking for a spark after Blanco gave Portland the lead, Vancouver head coach Carl Robinson brought on midfielders Yordy Reyna and Alphonso Davies, who scored three times for Canada at the Gold Cup, in quick succession near the hour mark looking to get something out of the game.
Brek Shea also subbed on soon after and had a great chance in the 80th minute, but Timbers goalkeeper Jake Gleeson was there to make a great save.
Gleeson was at it again in the 85th when he stopped Parker's header on a Vancouver free kick,
Ousted made a good stop on Jack Barmby at the other end moments later, but the Whitecaps couldn't muster much more in what can only be described as a bitterly disappointing performance — a game that seemed there for the taking against a weakened but determined opponent.
Portland strikers Fanendo Adi and Victor Arboleda were suspended for Sunday's match after getting sent off in Wednesday's 4-1 home defeat to Real Salt Lake, while midfielders Darlington Nagbe and David Guzman, defender Alvas Powell, and forward Darren Mattocks remained away on Gold Cup duty.
On the injury front, defenders Gbenga Arokoyo (Achilles tendon), Liam Ridgewell (quad), Amobi Okugo (knee), Chance Myers (hamstring) and Vytas Andriuskevicius (calf) were also unavailable.
Timbers midfielder Diego Chara recovered from a hamstring problem in time to start, but head coach Caleb Porter still had to call up Harold Hanson and Augustine Williams from the club's USL affiliate to fill out a bench that included just four outfield players instead of the usual six.
The Whitecaps, meanwhile, were minus Waston, but had all four of their Canadians who participated at the Gold Cup back in the fold, with Davies, defender Marcel de Jong and midfielder Russell Teibert starting on the bench.
Notes: Vancouver plays its next three games on the road, beginning Saturday against FC Dallas, which sits tops in the West. ... Portland visits the third-place Houston Dynamo the same day.
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