Match Report:

By Simon Fudge/whitecapsfc.com

Vancouver Whitecaps men recovered from Friday's home defeat to Seattle Sounders with an impressive 1-0 win at Portland Timbers on Saturday evening.

Vicente Arze's first-ever goal for the Whitecaps proved the difference between the two Pacific Northwest rivals, as Vancouver claimed its first win in Portland since July 2, 2004. The performance also erased a disappointing Vancouver display the night before, as their passing and pressure play seemed to unsettle their Oregon hosts. For Portland, Saturday's defeat not only saw their unbeaten streak end at seven games to start the season, it ended the Timbers' 18-game regular season unbeaten run at PGE Park - a record that stretched back to the start of last term.

With kick-off coming less than 24 hours after the 2-0 loss to another Pacific Northwest rival in Seattle, Whitecaps head coach Teitur Thordarson made five changes to the side for Saturday's game. Goalkeeper Jay Nolly and new signing Chris Pozniak made their first-ever competitive starts for the club, with Pozniak partnering Adrian Cann in the centre of defence, as the Thornhill, Ontario, native played his last game before joining up with the Canadian national team next week. Justin Moose and Arze also came into the wide midfield positions for Tony Donatelli and Alfredo Valente, while Jason Jordan got his first start of the season, as he replaced Nicholas Addlery in the Vancouver attack.

Timbers head coach Gavin Wilkinson, meanwhile, made one change to the starting XI that drew 0-0 at Miami FC Blues last Sunday. Neil Dombrowski replaced captain Andrew Gregor in the Portland midfield.

On a beautiful sunny evening for soccer in The City of Roses, it was the Whitecaps that looked determined to put in an improved effort from the one seen by Whitecaps fans against Seattle, with the visitors creating the majority of the first-half chances on the new PGE Park turf.

After an initial untidy spell, where both sides struggled to keep possession of the ball, Steve Kindel had the first opportunity for Vancouver on 12 minutes with a shot straight at Timbers goalkeeper Ray Burse.

Portland's early attacks lacked much threat, as the Whitecaps looked organized with their defensive set-up. In fact, the visitors had the next few opportunities, with Moose making a neat run and shot that Burse did well to save on 20 minutes before Arze just flew a left-foot strike over the Portland crossbar five minutes later.

The Timbers struggled to offer much in reply in the opening 45 minutes, but after Nolly punched clear a Chris Brown free kick, Cameron Knowles was unlucky not to turn Brown's diving header on target after flicking Scot Thompson's throw into the Whitecaps box on 28 minutes.

The Whitecaps then had more opportunities to take the lead, with striker Eduardo Sebrango seeing a weak shot roll to Burse on 33 minutes before Arze was unlucky to head just over the crossbar from close range after Portland failed to deal with a Martin Nash throw-in from the right two minutes later.

The Timbers Army were given a moment of excitement on 41 minutes, as Nolly made a spectacular save from Brown's header, but the play was called down for offside against the Timbers striker.

Then on 43 minutes, Nash was handed a major chance to give the Whitecaps the lead at halftime. Moose won the ball by Portland's right corner flag before streaking into the Timbers box along the byline. His pass found Nash, but his shot was well saved by the diving Burse.

The half ended with the Whitecaps in the ascendancy, as Kambere and Kindel struck shots wide of the target just before the break.

While the first half was played in sunny conditions, the second half saw rain and lightning arrive over PGE Park. One thing that did not change was the Whitecaps style of play, as their high-pressure style continued to cause Portland more problems. Vancouver's passing was also markedly better on Saturday than the night before against the Sounders, as Portland became increasingly frustrated not to have more possession of the ball.

On 54 minutes, Nash nearly found Whitecaps captain Cann at the far post with his free kick from the left before Timbers striker Takayuki Suzuki was wayward with a set-piece effort of his own five minutes later.

The game's decisive moment came on 60 minutes, as Arze scored his first-ever goal for the Whitecaps after latching on to a forward ball on the left-hand side. With Burse rushing out of his goal to close the South American winger down, Arze neatly lobbed the ball past the Timbers number one and into an empty net. Thordarson was pleased to see Arze get on the scoresheet. "I thought he was struggling a little bit in the beginning of the game, but later on, he created some good chances," he told whitecapsfc.com. "I thought his goal was fantastically taken."

Portland's reply came through their front two, with Suzuki striking a right-foot shot at Nolly on 68 minutes before the Japanese import set up strike-partner Brown with a cross from left, but the Portland native's header flashed across the face of Nolly's goal. On 72 minutes, Timbers substitute Lawrence Olum flicked Thompson's throw-in on to the roof of the Vancouver goal before Cann had to make a timely intervention from Kenyan-born player to deny him a chance to equalize moments later.

With time ticking towards the end, Sebrango and Jordan were unlucky not to score a second Whitecaps goal after Burse did well to save from the pair in the Portland box before substitute Valente went even closer in the three minutes of time added on. His fine low drive from the left deflected off the fingertips of the diving Burse before striking the far post and rolling away to safety.


The final whistle from referee Yader Reyes secured the fourth 1-0 win of the season for Thordarson's side, with the victory pulling them above the Timbers and into third place in the USL First Division standings. The result was also Vancouver's first points in the fan-based Cascadia Cup competition this year, and their fifth clean sheet of 2008. The Timbers, meanwhile, are now winless in their last five league contests after starting the season with three straight home wins.

Thordarson was delighted that his side performed so well after enduring the disappointment of the Seattle defeat. "I felt that we played extremely well tonight," he concluded. "Though the game was quite even in the beginning, I felt we clearly took over after about 30 to 35 minutes, and in the second half, we clearly dominated. I was unsure about how things would go tonight after last night's defeat, as well as sitting in a bus for seven hours through the night to get to Portland. We arrived here at about six o'clock in the morning and got a few hours sleep before preparing for the game. That was something I didn't really know what to expect, but we decided to give it a go straight from the beginning of the game and it worked fantastically well."

The Whitecaps will remain on the road this coming week. They visit current USL-1 leaders Charleston Battery on Wednesday before heading to Minnesota for a rematch with the Thunder next Saturday. Portland, meanwhile, will look to bounce back when they host Miami FC Blues at PGE Park on Memorial Day Monday afternoon.

Goal Summary:
VAN - 60' - Vicente Arze
The Bolivian winger got on the end of a forward ball before lobbing it past onrushing Timbers goalkeeper Ray Burse for the game's winning strike.

Match Stats:
Shots: Vancouver 11 – Portland 6
Saves: Vancouver 1 – Portland 4
Fouls: Vancouver 13 – Portland 13
Offsides: Vancouver 1 – Portland 1
Corners: Vancouver 6 – Portland 4

Cautions:
Vancouver: Moose 69', Pozniak 90'
Portland: Griffin 41', S. Thompson 53'

Vancouver Whitecaps FC
1.Jay Nolly; 4.Adrian Cann, 19.Chris Pozniak, 24.Lyle Martin, 28.Diaz Kambere; 7.Martin Nash, 8.Steve Kindel (14.Tony Donatelli 71'), 23.Vicente Arze (9.Alfredo Valente 76'), 25.Justin Moose; 16.Eduardo Sebrango, 26.Jason Jordan (11.Nicholas Addlery 88')

Subs not used:
77.Srdjan Djekanovic, 13.Mason Webb, 27.Stefan Leslie, 3.Nick Webb

Portland Timbers
23.Ray Burse; 5.Justin Thompson, 6.Cameron Knowles, 12.Leonard Griffin, 17.Scott Thompson; 2.Miguel Guante (10.Arsene Oka 45', 33.Chris Bagley 83'), 7.Shaun Higgins, 14.Neil Dombrowski (13.Andrew Gregor 68'), 16.Bryan Little (15.Lawrence Olum 45'); 11.Chris Brown, 30.Takayuki Suzuki

Subs not used:
1.Jordan James, 4.Tim Karalexis, 8.Tom Poltl