Late Evander free kick rescues Timbers in wild 4-4 draw with St. Louis

The Timbers trailed St. Louis City SC 4-2 in the second half, but they were able to claw their way back for a 4-4 draw after Evander scored from a free kick in the 9th minute of stoppage time while the Timbers were playing down a man.

This was the Timbers first match in MLS after the month-long break for the Leagues Cup, and just two weeks ago it was St. Louis who knocked the Timbers out of that competition. For most of tonight’s match, it looked like St. Louis City would emerge victorious over the Timbers again and pick up their first away win of the season, taking leads of 2-0, 3-1, and 4-2 before Portland came back to get a 4-4 draw.

First half:

Simon Becher delivered the opening blow for St. Louis City as he scored a header off a corner to give St. Louis the early 1-0 lead. St. Louis was then awarded a penalty after Becher was taken down in the box by Miguel Araujo, the penalty was converted by Eduard Lowen to double City’s lead. 

The Timbers got one back in the 39th minute after Felipe Mora delivered a great ball to the back post for Jonathan Rodriguez, who put the ball in the back of the net to get the Timbers within a goal. The Timbers were unable to get into the locker room with just the one-goal deficit, however. In the second minute of stoppage time, Cedric Teuchert blasted a right footed effort off a corner past Maxime Crepeau, making it a 3-1 St. Louis lead. It was their second goal of the night off a corner and all three of their goals had come from set pieces.

Second half:

The Timbers got back within a goal after a Felipe Mora header in the 57th minute, but St. Louis immediately responded through a Nokkvi Thorisson goal. It didn’t take long after that for Portland to get within a goal once more. Evander’s attempt from distance was saved by Roman Burki but Mora was right there to clean up the rebound for his second of the night which made it a 4-3 game.

In the 83rd minute, Antony scored the equalizer but the goal was overturned by the VAR and Antony was ruled offside and the Timbers still trailed. Then, in the 3rd minute of stoppage time, Mora was given a red card, which meant that the Timbers had to play down a man the rest of the way. There was still time though, since an absurdly high 12 minutes of stoppage time was applied. In the 9th minute of additional time, the Timbers were awarded a free kick from outside the box and Evander lifted it over the St. Louis wall and past the outstretched arms of Burki, leveling the match at 4 goals each.

Up next is a Cascadia showdown on Saturday when the rival Seattle Sounders come to town. The Timbers are currently 7th in the Western Conference table and a win over a Seattle team that is just ahead of them would be huge in terms of the playoff picture. A win would also put Portland just one point behind the Vancouver Whitecaps in the Cascadia Cup standings as well.