Marcel Hartel's two goals lift St. Louis past Portland for rare victory

Marcel Hartel's second-half brace on Sunday night enabled St. Louis City SC to win for just the second time in four months as they rallied for a 2-1 victory over the visiting Portland Timbers.

Trailing 1-0 in the 54th minute, St. Louis (4-12-6, 18 points) equalized through Hartel. He won a loose ball in the box and roofed a shot over goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau for his third goal of the year.

Hartel's second goal came 13 minutes later as the result of a cross from Conrad Wallem, bending from right to left. Hartel's header caromed off Crepeau and made its way inside the left post, giving St. Louis its first lead in nearly a month. The goal survived a video review on the basis of offsides during the free kick that preceded it.

St. Louis protected the lead during the last 23 minutes, plus stoppage time. Portland (9-6-6, 33 points) produced two good chances, but Gage Guerra's header in the 76th minute sailed over the crossbar and David Da Costa's attempt from the center of the box was turned away by goalie Roman Burki in the 80th minute.

St. Louis defied its season-long trend of getting outshot and out possessed, earning a 21-10 advantage in shots and an 8-4 margin in shots on frame. It had a 55-45 possession advantage at halftime before finishing at 52.1% to 47.9%.

St. Louis interim coach David Critchley said on Friday that he felt his team was ready to play well after a good training session on Wednesday. It came out with a golden chance in the sixth minute but Tomas Totland's point-blank shot from the right side was denied by Crepeau.

The Timbers found some traction after 10 minutes and produced a counter-attack that got them on the board. Da Costa — whose 72nd-minute goal on July 5 led to a 2-1 home win over New England — dribbled unfettered down the left side and ripped a shot past the diving Burki in the 19th minute.

The result dropped Portland to fifth in the West table.