After a sloppy first 45 minutes, the Portland Timbers and Philadelphia Union woke up and put on a show in the second half. To be more specific, the Timbers waited to get down a goal and then put on a show of their own to grab a season-opening 3-1 win, which delighted the boisterous home crowd and left the Union wondering, "what exactly did we do?"
Portland Timbers Vs. Philadelphia Union, 2012 MLS: Timbers Storm Back To Win, 3-1
Neither team really found their footing in the first half as both looked like they were still in pre-season. The Timbers had a couple chances, including a penalty appeal that was waved off and a shot that skipped just inches wide of the post thanks to a bad play by Zac MacMath, but it wasn't exactly a pretty half by the home side and Philadelphia wasn't any better.
Somehow, Gabriel Gomez managed to put the Union in front early in the second half. They hadn't generated much all match, but Gomez ripped a free kick from 35 yards that froze Troy Perkins and took a slight deflection before finding the net for the opening tally.
Once the Union went in front, it was all Timbers. They answered Philadelphia's goal quickly when Andrew Jean-Baptiste's header hit a diving MacMath in the hands, then somehow scooted under him and over the line for a goal that was all on the 20-year-old goalkeeper. Things didn't get much better for the Union as a dozen minutes later Kris Boyd said hello to MLS with a nifty header to make it 2-1 Timbers before Kalif Alhassan's chipped cross to the back post actually went in the goal to give Portland a comfortable win.
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