Timbers shut out in Kansas City 3-0

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Diego Rubio scored two goals and Tim Melia had his 10th shutout of the season to help Sporting Kansas City beat the Portland Timbers 3-0 on Saturday night.

Portland (10-6-7) has lost three in a row after a 15-game unbeaten streak in MLS play. The Timbers had just one shot in the first half and were outshot 25-7 overall.

“I thought we were in the game,” Portland Timbers head coach Giovanni Savarese said. “I thought that we created some chances and then at the end I think that it was tough to have to run without the ball for so long. Once they got ahead in the game it became very difficult for us.”

Sporting (12-6-6) won its third straight.

Rubio rifled a shot from the top of the box just inside the near post to open the scoring in the 28th minute and then made it 2-0 when he put away a cross by Daniel Salloi in the 37th.

Johnny Russell capped the scoring in the 89th minute. He tapped it to Roger Espinoza near the penalty arc, who led Russell toward the spot for the left-footed finish.

“I think if you give a dangerous team that many chances, they have good players, they’re going to score and they’re going to capitalize,” Timbers goalkeeper Jeff Attinella said. “It’s a week that we can take and learn from.”

SPORTING KC 3, TIMBERS 0

Portland 0 0—0

Kansas City 2 1—3

First half—1, Kansas City, Rubio, 5 (Espinoza), 28th minute. 2, Kansas City, Rubio, 6 (Salloi, Besler), 37th.

Second half—3, Kansas City, Russell, 8 (Nemeth), 89th.

Goalies—Portland, Jeff Attinella; Kansas City, Tim Melia.

Yellow Cards—Cascante, Portland, 51st; Valentin, Portland, 60th.

A—19,737 (19,737)

Lineups

Portland—Jeff Attinella; Julio Cascante, Marco Farfan, Larrys Mabiala (Bill Tuiloma, 45th), Zarek Valentin; Andres Flores, David Guzman, Lawrence Olum, Cristhian Paredes (Sebastian Blanco, 57th), Diego Valeri (Tomas Conechny, 81st); Samuel Armenteros.

Kansas City—Tim Melia; Matt Besler, Ike Opara, Seth Sinovic, Graham Zusi; Roger Espinoza, Felipe Gutierrez (Yohan Croizet, 81st), Ilie Sanchez; Gerso Fernandes, Diego Rubio (Krisztian Nemeth, 73rd), Daniel Salloi (Johnny Russell, 69th).