Zac McGraw scores late winner to propel Timbers to 2-1 win over Club Leon

Zac McGraw scores late winner to propel Timbers to 2-1 win over Club Leon

The unlikeliest of heroes for the Portland Timbers. Zac McGraw had no goals in all competitions this season, he had two of them tonight including the winner in the 90th minute. Both of them were headers scored off of corner kicks, which has been a weakness for the team all season, but it wasn’t a weakness tonight.

This was the first game for both teams in the 2024 Leagues Cup, a summer cup competition involving all 29 MLS teams and all 18 Liga MX teams. The Timbers are in Group A with Leon and the Colorado Rapids. The top two teams from each three-team group advance to the knockout stage of the tournament. The Timbers put themselves in a great position with tonight’s result.

This was the first start for Maxime Crepeau in goal for the Timbers since coming back from international duty for Canada during their run in the Copa America. He made a couple of big saves early in the second half of tonight’s game.

Just a few days ago, the Timbers acquired forward Mason Toye from CF Montreal in a trade. Toye made his debut for the club in this game after being subbed on for Jonathan Rodriguez in the 82nd minute.

First half:

Leon opened the scoring in the 12th minute as Alan Medina scored from long range to put the Mexican side up 1-0 early on. In the 31st minute, the Timbers had a great chance to tie the game. Antony found Jonathan Rodriguez wide open for what would have been a tap in, but Evander was making a run into that exact area and got to the ball before Rodriguez. Evander’s attempt ended up being too high and the Timbers missed this great chance.

Zac McGraw would draw the Timbers level in the 41st minute, however. Evander delivered a corner into the box and McGraw headed it home to make it 1-1. It was McGraw’s first goal in all competitions this season for the Portland Timbers.

Second half:

Early on in the second half, Leon looked like the better team. They forced a couple saves out of Crepeau early in the second half, including one where he had to reach up to tip the ball over the crossbar. After that, Portland started getting chances. In the 58th minute, Felipe Mora was in on goal but Alfonso Blanco made a huge save for Leon.

During the last 15 minutes, it was all Portland. The Timbers were creating a lot more chances towards the end and it seemed as if Leon was trying to hold on to the draw and send the match to a penalty shootout. The Timbers’ pressure paid off in the 90th minute, when much like the Timbers’ first goal, Evander delivered a corner that found the head of Zac McGraw for his second goal of the night, which was also the match-winner.

This is the Timbers’ 6th win in the last 8 matches in all competitions and they will hope to keep it up when they host the Colorado Rapids on Thursday in their second and final group stage match where they will attempt to secure their place in the knockout stage of the tournament.