PORTLAND, Ore. — Houston Dynamo FC lost 3-1 to the Portland Timbers on Sunday night, Nov. 1, at Providence Park, a setback that leaves the already-qualified Houston club fighting for playoff seeding on the last day of the MLS regular season.
Portland went ahead in the 25th minute when David Da Costa beat goalkeeper Blake Gillingham from a sharp angle on the left. Kristoffer Velde made it 2-0 in the 65th minute off a pass from Vincent Janssen.
Houston answered six minutes later. Diadie Samassékou picked off a pass in the Portland half, Duncan McGuire moved it to Agustín Bouzat, and Bouzat curled a left-footed shot in off the far post for his second goal of the year. Janssen settled it in the 78th minute, heading in a corner from Da Costa.
Gillingham, a late lineup change who took over for Jonathan Bond during warmups, made three saves, including a point-blank stop on Da Costa just before the first goal. He also denied Ariel Lassiter early in the second half and Omir Fernandez in the 89th minute, and Lawrence Ennali nearly scored for Houston in first-half stoppage time when a deflected shot went just over the bar.
The loss came days after Houston won 1-0 at Seattle, where defender Lucas Halter scored the only goal and took both of the Dynamo’s shots. That result ended an 11-match league winless run against the Sounders dating to May 2022. The two clubs split their season series with one win each.
Houston, coached by Ben Olsen, has 51 points, the same as St. Louis CITY SC, and holds fifth in the Western Conference on tiebreakers and one point behind the third seed. The two teams meet at 6 p.m. Central on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston.
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