NYCFC wins first MLS Cup after beating Portland in shootout

PORTLAND. Ore. — Alex Callens converted his punishment footwear and New York City FC won its archetypal MLS Cup rubric successful a shootout aft a 1-1 gully with the Portland Timbers connected Saturday.

Golden Boot victor Valentin `Taty’ Castellanos scored successful the opening fractional and it appeared that NYCFC was connected its mode to the league title successful regulation, but Portland’s Felipe Mora scored successful stoppage time.

After the teams went scoreless successful other time, Callen’s punishment sealed NYCFC’s 4-2 shootout victory. Goalkeeper Sean Johnson saved attempts from Mora and Diego Valeri.

Johnson was named the MLS Cup MVP.

“What a ride, this travel was brainsick this year. So galore up truthful galore downs,” Johnson said. “We talked amongst ourselves earlier the crippled and conscionable said we person a monolithic accidental to marque it each worthy it.

And this is what we unrecorded for, these moments. To beryllium to beryllium the MVP of the finals, I mean it means the world, but it means truthful overmuch much to assistance the cupful for this for this club.”

NYCFC celebrated successful beforehand of the extremity aft Callens converted, portion Valeri laic successful the halfway of the tract successful disbelief. A radical of New York players broke disconnected from the enactment to salute their fans, grouped successful the other country of the stadium.

New York stayed connected the tract agelong aft the victory. Coach Ronny Delia stripped down to his underwear and lifted the trophy, arsenic the players drank champagne.

“I don’t regret that, it was a large moment,” Delia said. “I volition support connected doing that if we support connected winning trophies.”

NYCFC, which joined the league successful 2015, had ne'er precocious to the rubric game.

Castellanos, who had 19 goals successful the regular season, was backmost successful the starting lineup aft missing the Eastern Conference last against Philadelphia. The Argentine striker was handed a reddish paper successful the league semifinals against the top-seeded New England Revolution, which NYCFC won connected a punishment shootout aft a 2-2 draw.

New York’s 2-1 triumph implicit astatine Philadelphia secured NYCFC a spot successful the MLS Cup last for the archetypal time. NYCFC was the 4th effect successful the East aft finishing the regular play 14-9-11.

The Timbers were besides seeded 4th aft going 17-13-4 successful the regular season. Portland downed the top-seeded Colorado Rapids connected Thanksgiving Day earlier beating Real Salt Lake 2-0 astatine Providence Park to triumph the Western Conference and unafraid location tract for the final.

The Timbers won an MLS Cup successful 2015 and went to the last successful 2018 but fell to Atlanta.

“It feels cruel, it feels sour, it feels hard to accept. Before we larn thing from it, we request to consciousness and recognize the emotions that we’re going to person aft this match, not to execute what was our goal, to assistance the trophy astatine home,” Timbers manager Giovanni Savarese said. “We couldn’t person thought astir much beauteous concern for america than lifting that trophy. So the archetypal happening is negociate our emotions and travel to the realization that it happened this way. The crippled tin beryllium cruel.”

Portland saw the instrumentality of Dairon Asprilla, who was suspended for the lucifer against RSL due to the fact that of a precocious reddish paper successful the triumph implicit the Rapids. Timbers playmaker Sebastian Blanco, who sustained a hamstring wounded against the Rapids and didn’t play against RSL, besides returned to the starting lineup.

The crippled was chippy astatine the start, with a little skirmish breaking retired successful the 25th minute. Players besides had bash endure alternatively nasty upwind conditions, with temperatures successful the 40s, dependable rainfall and gusty winds.

Castellanos scored connected a header disconnected a escaped footwear from Maxi Moralez successful the 40th minute, giving NYCFC the aboriginal lead. The extremity solemnisation was marred erstwhile it appeared that 1 of that New York’s Jesus Medina was struck by an entity thrown by a fan.

It was the archetypal set-piece extremity that the Timbers had allowed successful 20 games.

The Timbers astatine times looked disorganized. Mora had 1 of the champion chances for Portland successful the 2nd half, but his changeable successful the 81st infinitesimal fell straight successful the hands Johnson.

Mora had different accidental connected a header disconnected a transverse successful the 97th infinitesimal but it sailed good implicit the net.

He yet broke done successful the last infinitesimal of four-minutes of stoppage time. It was the latest extremity ever scored successful regularisation successful an MS Cup.

But the extremity was controversial. NYCFC players argued that it should beryllium disallowed, claiming that Maxime Chanot was fouled by Portland’s Larry Mabiala successful the run-up.

“The archetypal fractional was a small spot difficult, due to the fact that New York tried to power the ball, power the game. They recovered a mode to people connected us, and made it much hard connected us,” Portland Diego Chara said. “In the 2nd half, we recovered a mode to necktie the game. I deliberation aft that it was antithetic for us, getting confidence, playing with the ball, and we created a batch of opportunities.”

Valeri came successful arsenic a sub successful the 89th infinitesimal arsenic speculation astir the 35-year-old forward’s status swirls.

Valeri was with the Timbers erstwhile they won the MLS Cup successful 2015, scoring successful the opening moments of the 2-1 triumph implicit the Columbus Crew. He was named the league’s MVP successful 2017 aft racking up 21 goals and 11 assist.

NYCFC joins genitor nine Manchester City successful the Abu Dhabi-funded radical successful winning a title. The radical present partially oregon wholly owns NYCFC and Manchester City, arsenic good arsenic teams successful Australia, Belgium, China, France, India, Japan, Spain and Uruguay with a concern successful Bolivia arsenic well.

Owner Sheikh Mansour’s takeover of Manchester City successful 2008 that transformed the fortunes of a squad with small way grounds of occurrence into the Premier League’s astir palmy squad implicit the past decade.