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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
March 19, 2024

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Timbers beat Alpha United in CCL debut

Portland wins 4-1 at Guyana

The Columbian
Published:

Scoring twice in each half, the Portland Timbers on Tuesday won their debut match in the CONCACAF Champions League, beating Alpha United 4-1 in Georgetown, Guyana.

Steve Zakuani and Alvas Powell scored their first goals as Timbers and strikers Maximiliano Urruti and Fanendo Adi also scored for Portland. The Timbers led 2-1 at halftime, with Barbosa Murillo scoring a terrific free kick goal just before intermission for the home team.

The result puts Portland on top of its three-team group based on goal-differential and all but eliminates Alpha United (0-2) from winning the group.

CD Olimpia of Honduras won 1-0 at Alpha United on Aug. 5.

The group winner will advance to the knockout phase of the tournament, beginning with quarterfinal matches in the spring of 2015.

The Timbers will play their next two Champions League matches at home, hosting Olimpia on Sept. 16 and hosting Alpha United on Sept. 23. They conclude group play on Oct. 21 at Olimpia.

Zakuani opened the scoring in the 18th minute, breaking behind the defense on the end of a pass from Kalif Alhassan to beat goalkeeper Ronson Williams. Alhassan also set up the second goal with a pass to Urruti, who beat one defender to get into the penalty area for a clean shot at goal in the 34th minute.

After a choppy first half, Portland had more of the play in the second half and several chances to extend its lead before Adi — who came on for Urruti — scored to make it 3-1 off a pass from Powell in the 64th minute. Powell then completed the scoring in the 83rd minute, finishing a cross from Rodney Wallace.

Andrew Weber made four saves in goal for Portland.

The Timbers, who host Seattle on Sunday in MLS action, had 10 regulars skip the trip to Guyana, a country in the northern coast of South America, which is some 4,600 miles from Portland.

Strikers Urruti and Adi and midfielder Jack Jewsbury were the only players who have recently seen significant playing time who saw action on Tuesday.

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