Early in the match, the Timbers were controlling the flow of play, and in the 2nd minute, midfielder Alex Bengard's run from near midfield had him clear all the way to the top of the box, but his shot was high and wide and did not force a save from the Vancouver keeper. Vancouver had pressed forward a few times, but had not put a shot on goal, until the 10th minute, when after the ball was being contested along the end line near the Timbers goal, the ball was centered into the box, either from Whitecaps midfielder Alfredo Valente, Portland defender Scott Benedetti, or both, but the ball ended up at the feet of John Sulentic, who buried the ball past Timbers goalkeeper Josh Saunders to put the Whitecaps up 1-0.

Four minutes later, the Timbers had another good opportunity when Alan Gordon made a diagonal run into the box, but his low shot from 12 yards out was saved by a diving save by Whitecaps goalkeeper Alex Marques. In the 21st minute, the Timbers had another good opportunity when Bengard played a quick chip ahead to Byron Alvarez, whose diving header from six yards out went just wide to the right.

For much of the night, it would be the Timbers controlling long stretches of play in midfield, sometimes stringing 10, 15, or 20 passes together. The Whitecaps were looking for the counterattack, often dropping two midfielders back into a 5-man defense when the Timbers pressed forward, though on the few chances the Whitecaps had in the first half, often their shots were from outside the box, or were blocked right off the feet of the defender. The Timbers did get one last good chance in the first half, when in stoppage time, Jake Sagare hit a hard shot from 25 yards out that seemed destined for the upper right corner, but a good diving save from Marques kept the ball out of the net, and the Whitecaps held a 1-0 lead at the half.

For the first few minutes of the 2nd half, it was end-to-end action, with Alvarez, Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar, and Benedetti all getting shots for the Timbers, while Jason Jordan had a good chance for the Whitecaps, all in the first five minutes. Then play settled down into a similar style as the first half, with the Timbers controlling play in midfield, and the Whitecaps collapsing their defense in the final third, and looking for the counterattack. A Timbers free kick in the 50th minute was hit just wide right by Bengard, and then in the 61st minute, a Timbers corner kick headed towards goal by Gordon was flicked on by Alvarez, but the shot was right at Marques and easily saved.

The Timbers would have their best chance to equalize in the 63rd minute, when after a quick restart from Bengard on a free kick about 30 yards out from the Whitecaps goal, Sagare had snuck into the Whitecaps box and had a good chance from 8 yards out, but his shot was blocked out by Marques and then cleared by the Whitecaps defense. In the 64th minute, a cross from Alcaraz-Cuellar had Alvarez open in the Whitecaps box, but the ball short-hopped the Timbers striker, and he wasn't able to settle the ball quickly enough as the Whitecaps defense collapsed, and ended up hitting a shot well over the crossbar.

Four minutes later, the Whitecaps doubled their lead when after a Sulentic free kick was headed out of the box by Benedetti, the rebound was blasted towards goal by Valente. Though Saunders was able to save the initial shot, he was not able to control the ball and the ball was loose in front of the Timbers goal, where Jordan put it into the open Timbers goal to give the Whitecaps a 2-0 lead.

In the 73rd and 76th minutes, the Timbers and Whitecaps traded good chances on free kicks that were put right at the opposing keepers. By this point, the Timbers dominance they had enjoyed in midfield for much of the night had disappeared, with the Whitecaps now playing patient ball control in midfield, but the Timbers did get a few more good chances to pull a goal back. In the 80th minute, Gordon had a ball rebound back out to him near the top of the Whitecaps box, but he was unable to keep the ball low as he turned on it, and blasted it over the crossbar from 18 yards out. Two minutes later, a Whitecaps counterattack nearly widened their lead to three goals, but David Xausa's shot from 12 yards after a clear run into the Timbers box was blocked wide by Saunders.

In the 83rd minute, the Whitecaps had another one-on-one chance when Martin Nash made a clear run into the box after a nice dummy from Winston Griffiths had caught the Timbers defense out of position, but the shot from six yards out was saved by a reaction save from Saunders, who parried the shot wide left.

In stoppage time, for the third time in less than ten minutes, the Whitecaps once again had taken advantage of the Timbers pressing forward and had a one-on-one with the Timbers keeper, this time with Griffiths having about a twenty yard run to decide how to beat a charging Saunders, but in the end Griffiths held the ball too long, and eventually Saunders was able to smother the shot right off Griffiths' foot some 15 yards from net.

But in the end, it made no difference as the Timbers had not been able to solve the Whitecaps defense, and Vancouver jumps the Timbers into first place in the Western Conference with the win.

Josh Saunders had five saves for the Timbers in the losing effort.