Ryan Johnson brace seals Portland Timbers win

Apr 7, 2013 at 3.30am UK

A brace from Ryan Johnson earns Portland Timbers a 2-0 home win over Houston Dynamo in their MLS clash.

Published: April 7 2013 | 05:45

Last updated: April 7 2013 | 07:06

A brace from Ryan Johnson earned Portland Timbers a vital 2-0 home victory over Houston Dynamo in their MLS clash.

The game started quietly with neither team threatening until the half-hour mark when Dynamo striker Cam Weaver spurned a great chance as he blasted the ball over the bar from close range.

After the break, the home side clicked into gear and nearly took the lead through Darlington Nagbe with a well-worked move, but he could only poke his effort wide of the post.

Minutes later, Portland did take the lead through Johnson as he tapped home Diego Chara's pinpoint cross from the right wing into the net from close range despite the best efforts of Tally Hall in the Houston goal.

Rodney Wallace almost made it 2-0 to the Timbers when Nagabe fed him a pass 25 yards from goal, but his left-footed shot smacked the underside of the bar and bounced out.

Portland were dominating the game and Wallace went close again but this time he was denied by Hall, who made a great reaction save to keep his effort out.

The Timbers weren't going to be denied their second and Johnson notched a brace when he collected the ball from Nagbe on the halfway line and ran the length of the field before blasting an effort past Hall to seal the win.

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Eastern Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Inter Miami Inter Miami	34	22	8	4	79	49	30	74
2	Columbus Crew	34	19	9	6	72	40	32	66
3	FC Cincinnati Cincinnati	34	18	5	11	58	48	10	59
4	Orlando City	34	15	7	12	59	50	9	52
5	Charlotte FC Charlotte FC	34	14	9	11	46	37	9	51
6	New York City FC NY City	34	14	8	12	54	49	5	50
7	New York Red Bulls NY Red Bulls	34	11	14	9	55	50	5	47
8	CF Montreal Montreal	34	11	10	13	48	64	-16	43
9	Atlanta United Atlanta	34	10	10	14	46	49	-3	40
10	DC United	34	10	10	14	52	70	-18	40
11	Philadelphia Union Philadelphia	34	9	10	15	62	55	7	37
12	Toronto	34	11	4	19	40	61	-21	37
13	Nashville SC Nashville	34	9	9	16	38	54	-16	36
14	New England Revolution New England	34	9	4	21	37	74	-37	31
15	Chicago Fire	34	7	9	18	40	62	-22	30

Western Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Los Angeles FC Los Angeles	34	19	7	8	63	43	20	64
2	Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy	34	19	7	8	69	50	19	64
3	Real Salt Lake Salt Lake	34	16	11	7	65	48	17	59
4	Seattle Sounders Seattle	34	16	9	9	51	35	16	57
5	Houston Dynamo Houston	34	15	9	10	47	39	8	54
6	Minnesota United Minnesota Utd	34	15	7	12	58	49	9	52
7	Colorado Rapids Colorado	34	15	5	14	61	60	1	50
8	Portland Timbers Portland	34	12	11	11	65	56	9	47
9	Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver	34	13	8	13	52	49	3	47
10	Austin FC Austin	34	11	9	14	39	48	-9	42
11	Dallas	34	11	8	15	54	56	-2	41
12	St Louis City	34	8	13	13	50	63	-13	37
13	Sporting Kansas City Kansas	34	8	7	19	51	66	-15	31
14	San Jose Earthquakes Earthquakes	34	6	3	25	41	78	-37	21