LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Jeremy Ebobisse and Diego Valeri scored and the Portland Timbers clinched a spot in the knockout round of the MLS is Back tournament with a 2-1 victory over the Houston Dynamo on Saturday night.
With a pair of wins to open the World Cup-style tournament, the Timbers have secured one of the top two spots in Group F going into Thursday's match against the Los Angeles Football Club.
“It feels good to win. Our first goal was to reach the knockout stage,” Portland coach Giovanni Savarese said. “At the beginning, we were too conservative and made sure we had enough numbers to cover but once we had players going forward we were able to take more chances.