Kristoffer Velde buried a free kick in the 89th minute on Wednesday, Sept. 9, to salvage a 2-2 draw for the Portland Timbers against St. Louis CITY SC at Providence Park.
It was Velde's second free-kick goal of the match. The birthday brace gave the Norwegian winger eight goals and nine assists on the season, a team-leading 17 goal contributions, according to the Timbers' official recap.
St. Louis struck first. Rafael Navarro, making his first start after arriving from the Colorado Rapids in a deal worth up to $12.25 million, scored in the first minute. It was the fastest goal in CITY SC history and the third-fastest in MLS this season, according to the St. Louis match report.
Portland settled after the early shock. Finn Surman denied a St. Louis breakaway with the flick of a foot. Then Cole Bassett drew a foul just outside the box in the 31st minute, and Velde curled the ensuing free kick inside the near post, OregonLive reported. St. Louis keeper Roman Bürki did not move.
Navarro restored the visitors' lead in the 51st minute, heading home a deflected cross for his seventh career MLS brace. The Brazilian forward finished the night with 12 goals and four assists across his MLS season, according to MLS.com.
Velde answered again. Bassett ran over the ball and tapped it back to Velde at the top of the box. Velde fired low into the bottom left corner, and 19,351 fans at Providence Park erupted.
"These guys have … the resilience that allows us to keep competing," Timbers head coach Martí Cifuentes said after the match in a postgame interview.
The result left Portland at 9-10-5 with 32 points, level with seventh-place Colorado in the Western Conference.
The Timbers' official recap listed the club in eighth place. Portland has scored in 14 straight matches across all competitions, dating back to May 23.
The draw also extended St. Louis' unbeaten run to 14 MLS matches, the second-longest such streak in league history.
Wednesday's match came three days after Vincent Janssen recorded the first regular-season hat trick in Timbers history during a 5-4 win over Minnesota United on Sunday, Sept. 6. Ronald Hernández made his Timbers debut as a second-half substitute against St. Louis.
Portland travels to Toyota Stadium to face FC Dallas on Saturday, Sept. 12. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. PT on Apple TV.
