The Portland Timbers withstood a furious barrage from FC Dallas but held on to run out the 2-1 winners despite a second half red card. A brace from Diego Valeri and a series of strong saves from Jeff Attinella highlighted a comprehensive defensive performance that saw the Timbers advance out of the knockout round and into the Conference Semifinals.
In a battle between two teams looking to hang back and defend, both teams needed to make the most of their chances and in the 12th minute it looked like the home side had opened the scoring on the first real opportunity of the match.