Adi double propels Portland to victory in Columbus

By foxsports
Published

COLUMBUS, Ohio --

Fanendo Adi's brace dampened Kei Kamara's historic night and gave Portland a critical 2-1 win over Crew SC at MAPFRE Stadium. 

Kamara moved one step closer to breaking Stern John's single-season scoring record for Columbus and became the only player in MLS history to record a goal against 21 different franchises, but Adi's double was too much for Crew SC to handle.

"I think if anything the second goal took a lot out of us," Crew SC coach Gregg Berhalter said. "Our expectations are to win this game. It's disappointing not to win this game."

Kamara's equalizer in the 43rd minute capitalized on the consistent pressure that Crew SC had been putting on the Timbers back line for the better part of 20 minutes.

Columbus tried multiple times to get Kamara on the end of balls into the box and produced a fine chance from those efforts in the 27th minute. Waylon Francis whipped in a cross from the left side of the box that connected well with Kamara, but his effort curled just over the bar.

Directly after that sequence, the Timbers drove down the pitch with good interchanging play from the Portland midfielders. Darlington Nagbe poked a pass through multiple Columbus defenders for Adi to strike home for the game's opening goal in the 28th minute.

"He's a fantastic player, having a fantastic season," Berhalter said. "We're proud of what he's done so far."

Columbus woke up a bit after that, but, with Portland midfielders Diego Chara, Jack Jewsbury and Rodney Wallace continually pressuring Crew SC high up the field, Crew SC couldn't find good looks on goal.

Wallace would prove to be the difference, as his low cross was swept in by Adi for the 50th minute winner.

"It's a game of moments and we lost that moment," Wil Trapp said.

Michael Parkhurst added that it "stinks" to give up that second goal and that it proved a long way up hill from there. That hill seemingly got smaller in the 64th minute when Columbus appeared to have equalized after Ethan Finlay turned a cross into the net, but he was called offside. The remainder of the game was plagued with fouls and time-wasting calls on the Timbers, but all three points went to Portland.

"It was intense," Parkhurst said of the play. "It's teams fighting for playoff spots and every game is going to be like that from now on. ... It's gonna happen, especially with Eastern Conference games the rest of the way out from here."

The win lifted Portland into fifth place in the Western Conference and kept the Timbers three points inside the playoff spots. Meanwhile, Columbus sits in third place in the East, behind the New York Red Bulls and New England Revolution.