Last night the Portland Timbers took on the San Jose Earthquakes in their first meet up since last October. Since then, the Portland Timbers' roster has changed dramatically. One of those new faces? Former San Jose man Ryan Johnson.
Coming from Toronto FC, I don't think many fans had a lot of high hopes for R. Johnson. He was playing for a team which was last in the league, had never had a terrific break-out year, and wasn't particularly impressive in the Timbers' other preseason games. So when he delivered the Timbers' first hat trick last night since joining MLS nearly nearly two years ago it was a shocking.
For your viewing pleasure the goals come in the:
- Minute 0:45
- Minute 1:30
- Minute 2:20
All three were off of service to R. Johnson with Diego Valeri picking up two assists for his hand in those goals. Not that it takes anything away from his goals. For too long we have been waiting for the Portland Timbers to be able to make the kind of run-of-play goals that seemingly every other MLS team could make. It's great to finally see some.
Forgetting the defense for a bit, what do you think of Ryan Johnson's hat trick last night? What are you expecting out of him and Diego Valeri this year?