Gabriel Tamas scored in the final minute and West Bromwich Albion came from behind to defeat the Portland Timbers 3-2 on Wednesday night to cap a West Coast exhibition tour for the English Premier League club.
James Morrison and Somen Tchoyi also scored for the Baggies. Peter Lowry and Eddie Johnson scored for the Timbers, who gave many of their regular starters the night off.
West Brom, preparing for its first season under manager Roy Hodgson, plays its Premier League opener at home on Aug. 14 against defending champion Manchester United.
The Baggies opened their West Coast swing with a 2-1 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes, but beat the Ventura County Fusion of the USL Premier Development League 4-2 on Sunday.
Hodgson said Tamas' thundering goal from about 30 yards out was a satisfying way to end the U.S. tour.
"You see one of those strikes once in a blue moon, and today was a blue moon day for us," he said.
The Timbers, playing their inaugural Major League Soccer season, were coming off a 1-0 victory on the road against the Chicago Fire on Saturday. It was the club's first MLS away win.
Despite the result, Timbers coach John Spencer was pleased with the performance of his less-experienced players.
"Tonight those guys were up against a Premiership team and they pushed all the way," Spencer said.
Johnson, who is from Chester, England, beat Baggies goalkeeper Boaz Myhill in the 26th minute with an angled kick from the right side that sailed into the opposite corner of the net. Portland scored again three minutes later on Lowry's left-footed strike from outside the box.
"It's nice for myself to get some minutes and try to show John (Spencer) what I can do," Johnson said.
Billy Jones appeared to score for West Brom in the 34th minute, but the ball went just right of the post and was caught in the net.
Morrison missed a penalty kick in the 63rd minute, but came back just moments later to beat Timbers goalkeeper Jake Gleeson to make it 2-1. Quickly thereafter Tchoyi scored to even the match in the 68th minute.
West Brom unleashed a flurry of shots in the final 10 minutes, but was unable to score until Tamas' goal with just seconds left in a final minute of injury time. The match would have gone to penalty kicks if he had not scored.
West Brom did not play striker Peter Odemwingie, who had a career-best 15 goals last season. Hodgson said he held a few player out because he did not want to risk them to injury on the artificial grass at Jeld-Wen Field.
The team opened their preseason exhibition tour of the United States with the loss to the Earthquakes last week. San Jose rookie goalkeeper David Bingham scored in his professional debut, unleashing a powerful punt from the top of his own penalty box in the third minute. Myhill was facing the setting sun when the ball bounced over his head.
On Wednesday, Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson joked about it via Twitter. He also addressed Trade rumors which have swirled about the team in recent days. .
"Will be disappointed if our gk doesn't score tonight. also, several likely announcements in coming days," Paulson tweeted.
Meanwhile, up the road in Seattle, the Sounders hosted Manchester United in another MLS friendly with an EPL club. Manchester United won 7-0.
The Timbers and Baggies met 30 years ago when Portland was part of the North American Soccer League. West Brom won the match at then-Civic Stadium 1-0.
Wednesday's match was a sellout with 18,627 fans in attendance.
"I think we treated them to a very exciting friendly match," Hodgson said. "I've been involved in some friendlies that have been like watching paint dry."
