Watch the goalkeeper's howler that lead to Portland's MLS Cup final win

The goalkeeper for Columbus Crew will be a bit sheepish this morning.

They were playing Portland Timbers whose opening goal arrived after a costly blunder from Columbus goalkeeper Steve Clark, whose touch behind him from a Michael Parkhurst back-pass was loose, allowing Valeri to close down and slide down to divert the ball home.

Columbus midfielder Justin Meram defended the custodian, saying: “This isn’t on Steve, it’s on all of us.

“He’s a leader and it’s almost the way we play puts him in that position. We love him to death.”

Rodney Wallace hailed Portland’s first ever MLS Cup triumph as a “dream come true” after his goal helped the Timbers secure a 2-1 victory over Columbus Crew in the final in Ohio.

The Oregon franchise, who only played their first MLS game four years ago, made a terrific start by scoring twice in the opening seven minutes through Diego Valeri’s goal in the opening 30 seconds and Wallace’s header.

Ex-Middlesbrough striker Kei Kamara pulled one back in the 18th minute in a madcap opening although the Crew were unable to find a leveller, with Portland, who hit the woodwork three times, holding on for a landmark win.

Wallace said in an interview on the MLS official website: “It’s a dream come true, words can’t describe right now how I’m feeling. We’ve worked so hard for this and now we’re here.

“It’s a testament to our hard work and everything we’ve been through, not everyone knows what goes on in the locker room, the ups and downs and the battles that we go through.

“But we set the bar so high and every single day we work so hard, and now we’re champions. We deserve this.”

Former Aston Villa, West Brom and Birmingham defender Liam Ridgewell was delighted to earn silverware in his first full season with the Timbers.

He said: “I certainly didn’t come here to have a jolly to finish my career. I wanted to compete, I wanted to win things. It’s surreal but really good.”

Portland head coach Caleb Porter hailed the application of his side during the play-offs.

He said: “I don’t think it’s sunk in yet, we’ve been so locked in on moving on to the next game and we’ve had that laser focus, that’s what good teams do and now there’s no next game and we’ve won it.

“I think it’ll take some time to sink in but I couldn’t be more proud of the guys and we’re excited to bring the MLS Cup trophy back to Portland.”

Portland benefited from a glaring error from the officials in the build-up to Wallace’s goal, when the ball clearly went out of play in the build-up.

“It’s pathetic that the linesman didn’t make that call,” Meram added. “I was right there. I saw it. But that’s part of the game; what can we do? We can’t blame the officials. He didn’t see it.

“We have to be more in-tune and play until we hear the whistle. Essentially, it’s on us. It’s just one of those things. We were just on the wrong end of it.”