PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Timbers needed a win from Sunday's match against Western Conference rivals Sporting Kansas City, and after going down a man in just the 13th minute following a red card to midfielder Diego Chara, it looked like those three points would slip through their grasp.
Per usual, it was "the Maestro," Diego Valeri, to the rescue.
It was Valeri's speed to the ball that resulted in a red card for Sporting midfielder Soni Mustivar in the 39th minute, evening up the sides, and it was Valeri's 65th-minute strike that put the Timbers in the lead despite continuous attacking pressure from Kansas City.
That Valeri came up big for the side once again should come as no surprise to anyone in the Rose City, particularly after his superb showing against Salvadoran side C.D. Dragón in the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday, tallying the opening assist and the game winning goal in the Timbers' 2-1 win.
"That is what you need from big players. " Timbers midfielder Jack Jewsbury said after Sunday's match. "That is why those guys are on the roster: because they can do the special things, whether it is the final ball that they play or a finish like tonight. He is one of those players and we are blessed to have him on our team, to be quite honest."
The Argentine playmaker has now scored 10 goals and notched five assists in just twenty league matches this season, leading the side in goals per game. Even more impressively, Valeri now has four game-winning goals on the season, accounting for a full half of the Timbers' wins.
Portland head coach Caleb Porter was frank in his assessment of Valeri after the victory.
"Big players, especially attacking players, come up with goals," said Porter. "You saw it this weekend. Valeri is doing what the big players do on good teams. They come up with big goals and he has done that for us time and time again."
