Late goal gives Minnesota United a 1-0 win in Portland

They say turnabout is fair play, or so it went with Minnesota United's 1-0 stoppage-time victory at Portland on Saturday night.

Just when you thought they'd go quietly into the good night with one point earned, Loons forward Bongokuhle Hlongwane's right-footed strike from 18 yards out went through opposing legs and past Timbers keeper Aljaž Ivačič.

It came in the 95^th minute after the referee had announced there'd be five minutes of that stoppage time.

Until then, the Loons had been on the other end of late or game-ending goals, having surrendered such in games against Vancouver, Orlando City and Philadelphia – and more than once in the game against the Union that the Loons won anyway.

"They say they even themselves out, you know?" Loons coach Adrian Heath said. "Maybe they do."

Hlongwane scored on a counterattack after Portland continually pushed forward late in the game and in stoppage time looking for that winning goal and the accompanying three points.

· BOXSCORE: Minnesota United 1, Portland Timbers 0

Instead, teammate Wil Trapp played a lofted clearance pass down the field that the Loons' Mender García chased down and moved around with the first of two passes before Hlongwane's quick strike from the edge of the 18-yard box eluded two defenders and Ivačič.

Hlongwane and his teammates celebrated in more ways than one after he scored his sixth goal in all competitions, including four in the last four if you count a U.S. Open Cup victory.

Hlongwane called it his team's "our lucky day" after too many games without such luck.

The Loons won and, in Heath's words, "pinched" three points in Portland while playing without injured Robin Lod and still absent two-time All Star Emanuel Reynoso.

The South African himself ripped off his jersey, which earned him a yellow card that Heath groused about afterward. Hlongwane knelt with teammate D.J. Taylor, and both looked skyward in prayer, at Taylor's suggestion.

"I had never done that before," Hlongwane said. "it was just in the moment that came."

And Hlongwane paid homage to Lod by borrowing Lod's own goal celebration in which the Finnish international mimics shooting an arrow upward with a bow.

The club on Friday announced Lod tore his right knee meniscus in Wednesday's 1-0 home victory over Houston and will undergo surgery on Monday.

"I felt bad for him," Hlongwane said. "That was for him."

The Loons improved to 5-5-3 and now have won four games on the road.

They've done so despite scoring just one or no goals in 11 of 13 MLS games they've played so far.

On Saturday, they did defensively by blocking 11 shots and riding Hlongwane's late goal to victory.

The only time they've scored two or more were a 2-1 victory at Colorado on March 18 and a 3-2 loss at Vancouver on May 6.

"It was a big night for us," Heath said. "No Robin Lod, no Reynoso and we come to a place that's very, very difficult to play in. I'm very pleased for the players. They got their reward for all the effort they've put in."

Hlongwane goal also was his second in as many games.

"If we can get him scoring goals, we'll have a player on our hands," Heath said. "Nobody covers ground like he does. If we can get him in the right spots, take it as it comes, don't overthink it or put pressure on yourself to score goals, we might not be far away from the 25 (goals) he promised me last year."

Without Lod for now and Reynoso yet, Heath modified his starting 11 by playing Franco Fragapane between Joseph Rosales and Hlongwone in the attacking midfield's "No. 10" position that Reynoso plays and Lod has played, including recently.

That left formerly starting central midfielder Kervin Arriaga, recently signed Sang Bin Jeong and García among the designated substitutes.

That also kept Luis Amarilla up top as the one striker in Heath's preferred 4-2-3-1 formation.

The Star Tribune did not send the writer of this article to the game. This was written using a broadcast, interviews and other material.