Portland Timbers v Aston Villa, Match Report: Backed Into A Corner And Fought Our Way Out

Aston Villa and Portland Timbers finished up their preseason match with a bit of extra football. The score tied 2-2 after a crazy last ten minutes or so, the friendly headed into a penalty shootout. And once I've figured out why on earth there was a penalty shootout, I'll let you know. Anyway, SuperVillan Brad Guzan saved Portland's fifth shot, from Bright Dike, before Samir Carruthers sent in a beauty to win the match for the Villa.

More impressive than the win in penalties, however, was the fact that Lambert's Limes SCORED FROM A CORNER. Yes, that's right, a corner. Not once, but twice even. The first came from Ciaran Clark off a corner taken from Barry Bannan (that's captain Barry Bannan to you). The second was another corner from Baz, headed on from Nathan Baker for Matt Lowton to score.

The Timbers, eager to prove they aren't really the worst team in MLS, showed plenty of spunk, coming back twice to earn the draw. Sebastián Rincón scored the first and Rodney Wallace the second, just one minute after Lowton put Villa up 2-1. But in the end, the win goes to the Villa, preserving their perfect record in four preseason matches.

As for the play, well, I wish I could tell you -- and I'm really hoping that Aaron can. I slept through my alarm and woke up only for the last ten minutes, which seemed lively enough. The twitter reports are suggesting Bazza is a god, which I clearly knew already. The buzz also suggests that Stephen Ireland played well and Charles N'Zogbia, on for the last 30 minutes, was again showing us his potential.

So what'd y'all think? How'd the Villa look? Were you in Portland? Watching a stream? Fill us in!