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Bernardo Anor found the back of the net five minutes into the match and the Columbus Crew held on for a 1-0 win over a 10- man Portland Timbers side on Sunday at Crew Stadium.
The Crew entered the match on a bit of a slide having won just once in their last seven matches, but Anor's early tally proved to be all the home sided needed to put an end to Portland's 15-game unbeaten streak.
Columbus had the upper hand from the outset and needed just five minutes and a set-piece opportunity to stick one in the back of the net.
Federico Higuain whipped a perfectly-weighted ball into the box on a corner kick and Anor was there to easily nod it past Portland goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts for his second goal of the season.
Six minutes later, things got even better for the hosts when Portland defender Pah Modou Kah got a boot up in the face of Crew forward Aaron Schoenfeld, resulting in a second yellow card and a penalty kick.
Higuain stepped up to the spot but sent it wide of the left post, keeping the Timbers in the game as the visitors went into the locker room trailing by one.
In the second half, Portland controlled much of the play, despite being down a man and created several quality scoring chances, the best of which came in the 76th minute when Jose Valencia spotted a wide open Diego Valeri in the Columbus penalty area, but he smacked the shot well over the bar.
The Timbers were handed another small lifeline as five minutes of stoppage time were shown by the fourth official, but an equalizing goal never came and the visitors suffered defeat for just the second time this season.
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