Portland Timbers made their chances count against Houston

Portland Timbers beat Houston Dynamo 3-1 at Providence Park by turning far more chances into goals than they usually make, while Houston had more of the ball.

Vincent Janssen was involved in every Portland Timbers goal. He set up the first two and then scored the third himself, and that says more about how the match was won than any possession figure could.

Portland Timbers took 16 shots, most of them from inside the box, and six were on target. Their usual home return is 14.1 shots a game, so the volume was ordinary. What stood out was the quality. Expected goals, a measure that scores each chance by how often chances of that kind go in, came to 3.32 for Portland, against a home average of 1.37, so the side created far more than normal.

Houston Dynamo had more of the ball than they usually do, 54% against an away average of 48.9%. Yet they shot less than usual, managing seven shots against an average of 10.5. Their expected goals were 0.53 against an average of 0.87, so the possession did not become much danger.

Houston's goalkeeper, J. Bond, made four saves, which was the main reason the scoreline was not wider. Houston had one shot on target across the whole match, so the defensive work fell mostly to the men in front of him and to Bond himself.

Houston's goal came from Agustín Bouzat in the 71st minute, set up by Duncan McGuire, and it briefly made the match look more open than it had been. Portland restored the two-goal cushion through Janssen soon after. Each side picked up two yellow cards and nobody was sent off, so the result was not decided by discipline.

Portland Timbers scored three goals, against a home average of 1.8, and the four goals across both sides were more than the league average of 3.3 per match. Janssen's form stood out in a game where the goals came in a fairly steady rhythm rather than in a single burst.

Houston Dynamo are fifth in the table with 51 points from 32 matches, while Portland Timbers are 11th on 40 from the same number of games.

Player of the matchV. Janssen1 goal · 2 assists9.2

David Pereira da Costa1 goal · 1 assist8.5

K. Velde1 goal8.2

A. Bouzat1 goal7.5