Match Report | St. Louis CITY SC Draws 2-2 Against Portland Timbers on Wednesday Night at Providence Park

St. Louis CITY SC drew 2-2 against the Portland Timbers on Wednesday night. Just one minute into the match, Rafael Navarro opened his scoring account for CITY SC, making it 1-0. Portland found the equalizer in the 32nd minute through Kristoffer Velde, with the match remaining tied 1-1 through halftime. Navarro scored his second goal of the night in the 51st minute, giving CITY a one-goal advantage. Late in the second half, the Timbers leveled the match through another goal from Velde. With the draw, St. Louis extended its unbeaten streak to 15 matches across all competitions and now holds the second-longest unbeaten streak in MLS history at 14 matches. 

St. Louis will head home to Energizer Park this Saturday, September 12, to face Minnesota United FC for the first time this season. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT. 

Postgame Notes   

• Rafael Navarro scored his first two goals for St. Louis CITY SC, marking his seventh career MLS brace. 

• Navarro’s goal was the fastest in CITY SC history and the third-fastest goal scored in MLS this season 

• Alex Mățan made his 100th career MLS appearance 

• St. Louis extended its unbeaten streak to 15 games across all competitions. Additionally, the team now has the second-longest unbeaten streak in MLS history at 14 matches 

September 9, 2026 – Providence Park (Portland, OR) 

Goal-Scoring Plays   

STL: Rafael Navarro, 1st minute – Rafael Navarro scored with a left footed shot from the center of the box to the bottom right corner. 

POR: Kristoffer Velde, 32nd minute – Kristoffer Velde scored from a free kick with a right footed shot from the left half-space outside the box to the middle-left zone. 

STL: Rafael Navarro, 51st minute – Rafael Navarro scored with a header from the center of the box to the lower left central zone. 

POR: Kristoffer Velde (Cole Bassett), 89th minute – Kristoffer Velde scored with a right footed shot from the central position outside the box to the central bottom zone. 

Scoring Summary   

STL: Rafael Navarro, 1’ 

POR: Kristoffer Velde, 32’ 

STL: Rafael Navarro, 51’ 

POR: Kristoffer Velde (Cole Bassett), 89’ 

Misconduct Summary   

STL: Dante Polvara (caution), 31’ 

STL: Jaziel Orozco (caution), 36’ 

STL: Tomas Totland (caution), 45’+2 

POR: Eric Miller (caution), 58’ 

STL: Rafael Navarro (caution), 67’ 

Lineups    

POR: GK James Pantemis; D Jimer Fory, D Finn Surman ©, D Kamal Miller (Ian Smith, 81’), D Eric Miller (Ronald Hernandez, 65’); M David Da Costa (Diego Chará, 18’), M Cole Bassett, M Joao Ortiz (Omir Fernandez, 80’); F Kristoffer Velde, F Vincent Janssen (Gage Guerra, 90’), F Ariel Lassiter 

Substitutes not used: GK Hunter Sulte, D Joel Waterman, D Alex Bonetig, F Antony 

TOTAL SHOTS: 15; SHOTS ON GOAL: 3; FOULS: 10; OFFSIDES: 3; CORNER KICKS: 9; SAVES: 2 

STL: GK Roman Bürki ©; D Jaziel Orozco (Lukas MacNaughton, 46’), D Timo Baumgartl, D Dante Polvara (Fallou Fall, 65’); M Rafael Santos (Mykhi Joyner, 80’), M Tomas Totland, M Chris Durkin, M Daniel Edelman; F Alex Mățan (Carlo Holse, 80’), F Sangbin Jeong (Simon Becher, 65’); F Rafael Navarro (Damion Downs, 89’) 

Substitutes not used: GK Ben Lundt, M Miguel Perez, M Tomáš Ostrák 

TOTAL SHOTS: 11; SHOTS ON GOAL: 4; FOULS: 21; OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 1 

Referee: Fotis Bazakos 

Assistant Referees: Corey Parker, Diego Blas, Malik Badawi 

VAR: Drew Fischer 

AVAR: Robert Schaap 

Venue: Providence Park 

Weather: Clear, 75 degrees