Cucho Hernadez scores birthday goal in Columbus Crew 2-2 draw against Portland Timbers

Brianna Mac Kay, Columbus Dispatch

A shot from striker Cucho Hernandez put the Crew on the board against the Portland Timbers Saturday, but it was center back Steven Moreira who kept Columbus from being handed a loss at home.

The Crew have now finished regulation with a draw in four straight MLS games and six straight matches including CONCACAF Champions Cup play. The final score Saturday was 2-2. Both goals for Columbus came after going down one.

Moreira's game-tying goal came in the 74th minute. The defender launched a shot attempt from the top of the box and connected with the top left corner of the net. Moreira, who is in his fourth season with the Crew, has just one other MLS goal in his career, which he scored Aug. 27, 2022 in a 2-2 FC Cincinnati.

"I know all the time my teammates or the fans ask me to shoot more," Moreira said. "And today I just took my chance."

Apr 20, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Columbus Crew defender Steven Moreira (31) scores a goal past Portland Timbers midfielder Evander (10) during the second half of the MLS match at Lower.com Field. The game ended in a 2-2 tie.
Apr 20, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Columbus Crew defender Steven Moreira (31) scores a goal past Portland Timbers midfielder Evander (10) during the second half of the MLS match at Lower.com Field. The game ended in a 2-2 tie.

Portland's Felipe Mora, on the other hand, has scored in four straight games and gave the Timbers an early 1-0 lead at Lower.com Field. From the top of the box, midfielder Eryk Williamson found Mora crashing to the right. With his right foot, Mora snuck the ball past defender Rudy Camacho and goalkeeper Patrick Schulte into the bottom left corner of the goal near the 10-minute mark.

Portland followed up Mora's goal with another strong attack. Timbers' leading scorer Evander Da Silva Ferreira's attempt was cleared when Camacho headed the ball away.

Despite the Timbers holding the lead, coach Phil Neville was upset. He kept making remarks to the referees, which earned him a yellow card shortly after the Timbers scored. Crew coach Wilfried Nancy said following that match that he was unable to hear what made Neville upset.

Cucho Hernandez: A birthday boost

Entering Saturday, Hernandez said he felt like he was "starting a new season." He has missed three games this year, two for violating "team policy" and one due to a red card violation against D.C. United on April 6. The Crew's leading scorer also had failed to record a goal since March 16.

The hopes of a fresh start happened to coincide with his 25th birthday.

It looked like Hernandez's scoring drought was over in the first half when he put the ball in the net in the 27th minute, but he was ultimately ruled offside.

Apr 20, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Columbus Crew forward Cucho Hernandez (9) chases down a ball in front of Portland Timbers defender Miguel Araujo (2) during the first half of the MLS match at Lower.com Field.
Apr 20, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Columbus Crew forward Cucho Hernandez (9) chases down a ball in front of Portland Timbers defender Miguel Araujo (2) during the first half of the MLS match at Lower.com Field.

Hernandez would have to wait until a little over 50 minutes into the match to score. From the right side of the box, forward Diego Rossi passed the ball to Hernandez, who sent his shot to the right of Portland goalkeeper James Pantemis.

"He did good," Nancy said. "He was lively, and he scored a goal obviously, but he helped the team unbalance the opposition."

It took Portland less than ten minutes to respond to Hernandez's goal. Timbers midfielder Santiago Moreno beat Yaw Yeboah in the box to a pass from Da Silva Ferreira, who gave his team the lead back.

The Crew increasingly looked in danger of suffering their first home loss since May of 2023.

"We are one strong group," Moreira said. "We don't give up, that's just the mentality of the group, of the staff."

In the first half, the Crew struggled with Portland's size. Nancy had opted to start a smaller frontline, moving Yeboah to left forward for the first time this season with Will Sands starting at left wingback. Hernandez, standing at 5-foot-10, was the tallest attacker for the Crew in the first half against Portland's backline, which included three players over 5-11. (Defender Claudio Bravo, who stands 5-7, was the notable exception.)

Apr 20, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Columbus Crew midfielder Yaw Yeboah (14) dribbles around Portland Timbers defender Juan Mosquera (29) during the first half of the MLS match at Lower.com Field.
Apr 20, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Columbus Crew midfielder Yaw Yeboah (14) dribbles around Portland Timbers defender Juan Mosquera (29) during the first half of the MLS match at Lower.com Field.

Nancy replaced Sands with 6-0 Jacen Russell-Rowe at halftime, bumping Yeboah back to left wingback, which helped with the size, but Portland's backline still looked faster and was making scoring difficult until Moreira's goal.

"We had a lack of rhythm in the first half," Nancy said. "When the ball was on the weak side, we were too slow to change the rhythm. ... The idea was to get two left-footed (players) and to put the ball a little put the ball a little bit quicker inside the box with Yaw and Will, but we were a little bit slow to feed the ball to those guys, that's why after that, we adjusted in the second half."

bmackay@dispatch.com

@brimackay15

Get more Columbus Crew content by listening to our podcast

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Cucho Hernandez scores in Columbus Crew vs Portland Timber 2-2 draw

Advertisement