MLS Cup 2015 was the 20th edition of the

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

, the championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS). The soccer match was to determine the champion of MLS' 2015 season. The championship was contested on December 6, 2015 between the

Columbus Crew SC The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

and the Portland Timbers at

MAPFRE Stadium Historic Crew Stadium, previously known as Columbus Crew Stadium and Mapfre Stadium, is a soccer-specific stadium in Columbus, Ohio, United States. It primarily served as the home stadium of the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer from 1999 u ...

in Columbus, Ohio, with the latter winning 2–1 and earning a berth into the

2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League The 2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2016–17 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 9th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 52nd edition of the prem ...

. The Timbers'

Diego Valeri Diego Hernán Valeri (born 1 May 1986) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. From 2013 to 2021, Valeri played for Major League Soccer club Portland Timbers, and is regarded as one of the league' ...

scored the fastest goal in MLS Cup history at 27 seconds after Crew

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Steve Clark miscontrolled his defender's back-pass. Portland doubled their lead in the seventh minute with a goal by Rodney Wallace, and although Columbus got a goal back through

Kei Kamara Kei Ansu Kamara (; born 1 September 1984) is a Sierra Leonean professional footballer who plays as a striker for CF Montréal of Major League Soccer. He is one of only eleven players to have scored 100 goals in MLS history, achieving the l ...

in the 18th minute, the Timbers held on for their first MLS Cup championship. It was the first men's professional sports championship for a team from the city of

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

since the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

won the 1977 NBA championship.

Road to the final

Tournament Bracket

Match

Summary

Portland opened up the scoring early as

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

swiped the ball out from under Columbus

Steve Clark and flicked the ball into the back of the net with one touch at the 27-second mark. It was the fastest ever goal scored in an MLS Cup match. The Timbers kept the pressure on, and when the assistant referee failed to call a ball out of bounds after it drifted across the sideline and several Crew players stopped playing, Portland midfielder

Darlington Nagbe Darlington Joephillip Nagbe (born July 19, 1990) is an professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer. Born in Liberia, he represented the United States national team. Nagbe spent the first seven ...

capitalized, passing to forward Lucas Melano to set the table for a goal by left winger Rodney Wallace that put Portland on top 2–0 in the seventh minute. In the 18th minute, Columbus got on the board after Portland goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey failed to take control in a scramble at the goal line and Columbus forward

, the league's leading scorer, shot the ball into the net. Kamara's goal to make the game 2–1 ended up as Columbus' only shot on goal of the match. Portland got a number of opportunities to score in the second half, but the Timbers failed to convert. In the 60th minute, a Portland

corner kick A corner kick is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defending team. The kick is take ...

resulted in a loose ball in the penalty box, which ricocheted off the goalpost before being cleared after striking Columbus captain

Michael Parkhurst Michael Finlay Parkhurst (born January 24, 1984) is an American former soccer player who played as a defender. The 2005 MLS Rookie of the Year and 2007 MLS Defender of the Year Award, Parkhurst was capable of playing both as a center back and ...

's arm on the goal line. However, no handball was called and no goal was awarded. In the 69th minute, Portland striker Fanendo Adi headed the ball toward the goal, but it deflected off the far goalpost and then bounced away off Clark's body. Clark also stopped a point-blank header from Portland center back Nat Borchers in the 81st minute, and then tipped another shot by Adi over the net shortly thereafter. The game ended with a 2–1 scoreline as Columbus was unsuccessful in taking advantage of Portland's missed opportunities, giving the Timbers their first MLS Cup victory and the city of Portland its first men's pro sports championship since the Portland Trail Blazers won the NBA championship in 1977. Valeri was named the match's Most Valuable Player.

Match details

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MLS Cup 2015 2015 * Columbus Crew matches Portland Timbers matches Sports competitions in Columbus, Ohio December 2015 sports events in the United States 2015 in sports in Ohio 21st century in Columbus, Ohio