By Tony Álvarez
The Portland Timbers opened their 2026 Leagues Cup campaign in emphatic fashion, defeating Club Puebla 5-2 on Thursday at Providence Park.
Portland opened the scoring early after capitalizing on a Puebla turnover near midfield. Kristoffer Velde received the ball in transition on the left side inside the box, but his shot was deflected. The rebound fell to Ariel Lassiter, who took advantage of it as he sneaked by the Puebla back line to score in the 5th minute.
Nine minutes later, La Franja got the equalizer when Brayan Garnica delivered a cross from the right that Eduardo Mustre finished after slipping behind a defender to guide the ball into the net in the 14th minute.
After that, it was all Timbers, and it paid off.
In the 36th minute, Cole Bassett delivered a clinical header off a corner kick to put his team ahead.
Two minutes later, Ian Smith crossed a ball to David Da Costa, who finished calmly to score Portland's third goal.
That was not all, as in another stoppage-time transition, it was once again Bassett who made his presence felt on the scoreboard with a strong shot to beat the goalkeeper and put Portland up 4-1 at the half.
Portland Timbers continued their push, and the goals kept coming.
In the 56th minute, Da Costa dribbled off the right side of the pitch as he entered the box near the end line and served to a spot where three players were there to finish the play. Lassiter got on the end of it for his second goal of the night with a strong strike for a 5-1 scoreboard.
Emiliano Gómez did manage to get one back for Club Puebla at the 80th minute, as he sprinted with the ball over the middle and delivered a long-distance screamer that was impossible to save, to deliver what ultimately was the final score of 5-2.
REACTIONS
- Portland Head Coach, Jack Cassidy
- “When we were, I think, 5-1, we started to get a little bit sloppy on the ball, and it’s, I think, human instinct (…) you then end up asking for trouble, so, those little things frustrate me in a game, but when I take one step back, it was a good evening all around.”
- “It’s been a good nine weeks, give or take. The players have created a good togetherness, there’s a good thing in the group, and we wanted to create a good high bar for the next head coach.”
- Puebla Head Coach Gerardo Espinoza
- “We are in a very difficult, complicated situation marked by a great deal of frustration; the dressing room is hurting and upset—and rightly so. There are definitely many things to evaluate, and this is one of the situations I have been trying to change within the organization.”
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH
- Portland
- Cole Bassett scored a brace to put the Timbers up by a healthy margin at halftime.
- Ariel Lassiter also collected a brace, striking the opening and closing goals for the Timbers.
- David Da Costa had a direct hand in three of the goals, scoring one and assisting two.
GAME NOTES
- David Da Costa scored a goal and had two assists.
- Ariel Lassiter and Cole Bassett scored two goals each.
- Eduardo Mustre scored for a second consecutive game.
- Club Puebla had 60.8% of ball possession.
CARDS/INJURY REPORT
- Yellow Cards:
- Puebla: Sergio Sanabria (81’), Ángel Leyva (90’+1’)
LOOKING AHEAD
- Portland: Aug. 9 vs. América
- Puebla: Aug. 9 vs. Austin
