PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Jayden Nelson had a goal and three assists in his Vancouver debut and the Whitecaps opened the season with a 4-1 victory over the Portland Timbers in a steady rain on Sunday.
Ryan Gauld, Pedro Vite and Sam Adekugbe also scored for Vancouver, which led 2-0 at the break in Jesper Sorensen's first game as the club's coach.
The loss in the Cascadia Cup rivalry match dampened the start of Portland's 50th anniversary season. The Timbers trace their roots back to 1975 and the North American Soccer League.
There was drama from the start when Timbers defender Kamal Miller was sent off with a red card in the 11th minute, leaving Portland with 10 players.
Vancouver opened the scoring with Gauld's goal in the 24th minute. Vite's goal made it 2-0. Adekugbe and Nelson scored some eight minutes apart in the second half to push the lead to 4-0 lead.
Antony scored for the Timbers in the 73rd minute.
Sorensen replaced coach Vanni Sartini, who was let go last November after the Whitecaps were eliminated in the first round of the Major League Soccer playoffs by LAFC.
Portland recently cut ties with Brazilian playmaker Evander, who was dealt to FC Cincinnati in a $12 million player-for-cash trade last week. Evander, who had 15 goals and 19 assists last season, had expressed his unhappiness in Portland on social media.
The Timbers added Portuguese midfielder David Da Costa as a designated player. He entered in the second half Sunday.
Portland midfielder Diego Chara started in his 400th MLS appearance with the Timbers. He set the league record for matches played with a single club last season when he surpassed Chris Wondolowski’s 376 for the San Jose Earthquakes. Three other current MLS players have played in 400 matches or more.
The last time these teams met was in a wild-card match ahead of the playoffs last season, a 5-0 win for Vancouver.
The Cascadia Cup is a three-way competition between the Timbers, Whitecaps and Seattle Sounders.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Anne M. Peterson, The Associated Press
