The Portland Timbers kept their playoff hopes alive on Saturday by claiming a 2-0 victory over FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium.
The Timbers broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute when Darlington Nagbe took a pass from Diego Chara and unleashed a shot from the top of the box that received a massive deflection on its way past Chris Seitz.
FC Dallas thought it had leveled the score in the 63rd minute when Michel's free kick ricocheted into the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed as Fabian Castillo clearly directed the ball into the goal with his hand.
Portland eventually doubled the lead as Gaston Fernandez slipped a pass through the Dallas defense for Maxi Urruti to smash home with eight minutes remaining.
It proved to be the dagger Portland would need to kill off the match as the Timbers secured the victory to climb to 49 points on the season and move ahead of Vancouver in the Western Conference standings.
Dallas, meanwhile, squandered its chance to avoid the Western Conference play- in game, instead settling for fourth place in the table by remaining on 54 points.
[SportsNetwork.com]
