The Portland Timbers beat Austin FC 3-0 at Providence Park this past Sunday evening to wrap up the 2021 regular season. Cristhian Paredes and Jaroslaw Niezgoda did all the scoring in the first half. The Timbers knew they'd enter the MLS Cup Playoffs as the Western Conference's No. 4 seed before the start of the Decision Day match, and then discovered shortly after their match ended that they'd be hosting Minnesota United FC.

On both of their first-half goals, the Timbers took advantage of Austin's blunders. The first occurred in the 17th minute when Santiago Moreno and Sebastian Blanco exchanged passes to set up Paredes' goal. Niezgoda was able to chest in a last-ball from Yimmi Chara just before halftime for the second goal. When Blanco and Niezgoda collaborated on a give-and-go move less than eight minutes into the second half, it became even more of a pile-on. Blanco eventually walked it in past Brad Stuver, who had only a few minutes before made a double save to stop Verde's bleeding.

After Austin appeared to have the Timbers' number earlier this season, winning 4-1 and 3-1 in Q2 Stadium-hosted matches in July and August, Portland avenged itself with the crucial victory. In the 78th minute, Yimmi Chara almost made it more definitive, but Freddy Kleemann blocked Chara's shot to the crossbar with possibly the best Austin FC defensive performance of the night.

[Photography by ICONIC photographer Scott Boldt]