The Portland Timbers claimed their first ever win in Major League Soccer by beating the Chicago Fire 4-2 at Jeld-Wen Field.
The Timbers were 2-0 up at half-time in a rain-drenched encounter through goals from Jorge Perlaza and Rodney Wallace, before Perlaza grabbed his second three minutes after the restart.
The Fire pulled one back courtesy of Eric Brunner's own goal then sent Portland nerves jangling with Marco Pappa's strike nine minutes from time, but Mamadou Danso neeted three minutes later to ensure the Timbers moved off the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
Portland had spent $31 million on improvements were completed to make their downtown stadium more soccer-friendly, and the Timbers Army, the team's independent fan group, was given the honour of singing the national anthem ahead of the game. Afterwards, they unfurled a banner which proclaimed "It takes an army to raise a club."
"You haven't seen that in American soccer, to be honest," Timbers coach John Spencer said about the atmosphere. "It was tremendous."
The Timbers sold out their season tickets earlier this year and now there's a waiting list.
