Finlay, Mannone lead Minnesota to 1-0 win over Timbers

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Ethan Finlay scored on a penalty kick in stoppage time, Vito Mannone had five saves for his second consecutive shutout and Minnesota United beat the Portland Timbers 1-0 on Sunday.

Mannone has shutouts in three of his last four games. Minnesota (11-7-5) is unbeaten, with five wins, in its last seven.

Portland’s Larrys Mabiala was called for a hand ball in the area and, after video review confirmed the call, Finlay converted from the spot in the second minute of stoppage time.

“Was it a PK or not, and to be quite honest I don’t know what a PK is anymore,” Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese said. “I think the rules that we hear one time or the other — I don’t think they’re consistent, and I think the right result of this game probably should have been a tie.”

The Timbers had 57 percent possession and controlled much of the action but couldn’t convert.

Sebastian Blanco missed wide on a chance in the third minute and his long-range shot in the 16th was tipped over the crossbar by Mannone — who made a double-save in the 29th minute.

Brian Fernandez first-timed a shot off the post in the 78th and his header in the 82nd slipped just over the crossbar.

“I think we created some good moments but Minnesota had some very good chances as well,” Savarese said. “I thought we defended well. I thought we attacked well in some moments and the same thing for them.”

Timbers defender Jorge Villafaña said he felt Portland managed the game well.

“We created some opportunities, they had their chances too and at the end it’s those plays where you can’t get out of the way,” he said. “They happen so quick that you can’t do anything about it.”

The Timbers (9-9-4) had their six game unbeaten streak snapped.

Portland will get a shot at revenge on Wednesday as it will face Minnesota again in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals.

“We now need to make sure that we bounce back right away. We’re not going to stay too much on this game,” Savarese said. “We have to play this team again on Wednesday in the Cup, so we need to prepare in how we’re going to confront them in this coming match. We’ll be analyzing everything tonight and I’m sure that there’s things that we’ll have to improve.”

Even with three points in his back pocket from Sunday’s win, Minnesota coach Adrian Heath still has concerns about the Timbers.

“About eight players for them,” he said. “They’ve got good players whichever way they go. You know, they’ve got really good attacking pieces. We think they may change one or two but trust me, it’s going to be difficult for us again on Wednesday now. The one thing that I do know is that Gio is smart enough to know that it’s going to be difficult for them as well.”

MINNESOTA 1, TIMBERS 0

Portland 0 0—0

Minnesota 0 1—1

First half—None.

Second half—1, Minnesota, Finlay, 4 (penalty kick), 90th minute.

Goalies—Portland, Steve Clark, Kendall Mcintosh; Minnesota, Vito Mannone, Bobby Shuttleworth.

Yellow Cards—Minnesota, Boxall, 75th. Portland, Mabiala, 39th; Clark, 50th; Chara, 53rd; Cascante, 58th.

Referee—Christopher Penso. Assistant Referees—Adam Wienckowski; Cory Richardson; Jorge Gonzalez. 4th Official—Ted Unkel.

A—19,726.

Lineups

Minnesota—Vito Mannone; Michael Boxall, Chase Gasper, Romain Metanire, Ike Opara; Osvaldo Alonso, Ethan Finlay, Jan Gregus, Miguel Ibarra (Robin Lod, 65th), Kevin Molino (Abu Danladi, 77th); Angelo Rodriguez (Mason Toye, 66th).

Portland—Steve Clark; Julio Cascante, Larrys Mabiala, Jorge Moreira, Jorge Villafana; Sebastian Blanco, Diego Chara, Cristhian Paredes (Tomas Conechny, 90th), Diego Valeri; Brian Fernandez, Marvin Loria (Jeremy Ebobisse, 70th).