Photo by Jaime Valdez / USA Today Sports 

By ADAM TROXTELL

The result finally matched the performance for the Portland Timbers.

After a series of matches in which the Timbers played well enough to win only to see points dropped on every occasion, the Timbers secured their first win of the season late Saturday with a 3-1 win against FC Dallas. Quick counterattacks and effective set-pieces plagued the FCD defense all evening, and the visitors from Texas were handed their first loss of this season.

Nat Borchers opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, heading in a corner kick while sitting wide open at the back post. Urruti’s winner in the second half was followed up by a late goal from Diego Chara as FCD chased the game.

After the final whistle, tempers flared after Oscar Pareja attempted to mock Porter by pretending to cry before handing Porter a tissue. Porter responded by telling Pareja to look at the scoreboard before flinging the tissue into the air, which kicked off a minor shoving match between the coaching staffs for both teams.

An even first half ended as such, with Tesho Akindele scoring off of an FC Dallas corner to answer Borchers’ opener. For brief spells, FC Dallas looked like a team capable of claiming its first ever win inside Providence Park.

But after halftime, the Timbers took charge to end with six shots on target compared to three for the visitors. While FC Dallas did bring a few saves out of Adam Larsen Kwarasey in the Timbers goal — including a crucial stop just before Chara provided the dagger at the other end — the Timbers looked more dangerous throughout the night.

After becoming bogged down in the midfield for the first 20 minutes, the game burst to life thanks in part to some poor FC Dallas defending. The Timbers’ third corner of the game turned into the opening goal when Borchers was found at the back post with no one marking him.

That put the Timbers in a mood, and Fanendo Adi nearly scored a second just a few minutes later. The striker was found outside the box on a Portland counter-attack, and his low shot was saved by Seitz. Urruti put in the rebound, but he was called offside.

At the other end, FCD nearly answered back through Akindele. The young striker was put through on goal, but his shot from 12 yards was high and wide. He made up for the miss a few minutes later.

Michel’s corner kick was flicked on by Atiba Harris to the back post, where Akindele arrived to drive the ball into the net for the 30th minute equalizer. FCD confidently saw out the rest of the half, but the Timbers became more difficult to contain after the break.

The introduction of Dairon Asprilla only made the Timbers more dangerous. The Colombian’s first involvement since coming on turned into another Portland lead, with his low cross finding Urruti for a near-post finish into the roof of the net in the 63rd minute.

Unlike in the first half, FC Dallas’ response was not immediate. In fact, the Timbers went on to control the tempo, routinely testing a defense that looked shaky while dealing with crosses all night.

Pushing more and more bodies forward, FC Dallas pulled a save out of Kwarasey with about five minutes left. Loyd climbed above his marker to head down a cross that bounced toward the left corner, but Kwarasey got a hand out to push the ball onto the post.

Shortly after that, the Timbers exploited the open field. Chara was played in one-on-one with Seitz from midfield and calmly guided the ball inside the right corner of the net to seal the win.

The Timbers’ will stay in Providence Park for their next match, a Sunday kickoff against Orlando City. FCD’s first chance to bounce back comes against Colorado Rapids on Friday.