Antony scored two goals and the Portland Timbers dominated play with a 4-1 victory over the visiting Colorado Rapids on Saturday night in the season opener for both teams.
Eryk Williamson added a goal and an assist for the Timbers, who played crisp soccer in Phil Neville’s debut as coach. Portland’s other tally was on an own goal by Colorado’s Sam Vines.
Chris Armas’ debut as Rapids’ coach didn’t go as well as Colorado trailed 4-0 at halftime. Calvin Harris scored for the Rapids in the second half.
James Pantemis had two saves for Portland. Zack Steffen didn’t make a save in his debut for Colorado.
Williamson scored his first MLS goal since May 1, 2021, in the game’s ninth minute. Juan Mosquera grounded the ball across the box and Williamson knocked a left-footed shot past Steffen.
Five minutes later, Portland took a 2-0 lead as Cristhian Paredes passed the ball to Antony, who headed the ball into the net.
In the 29th minute, Williamson passed the ball ahead to Antony, who had a defender in pursuit as he sped toward the goal. Antony then sent a right-footer into the top right corner to give the Timbers a three-goal edge.
Portland made it 4-0 in the fifth minute of first-half stoppage time. Antony sent a cross in front of the net and there were no Timbers around, but Vines was standing right in front of the net and knocked the ball in.
Colorado got on the board in the 55th minute off a corner kick. Connor Ronan’s boot was headed by Harris, landed on the goal line and was cleared away by Portland’s Zac McGraw. It was initially ruled no goal before a video review showed the ball had crossed the line before McGraw cleared it.
The Rapids had an 11-7 edge in shots and placed three on target. Portland also put three shots on target.
–Field Level Media