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USA Today Sports

The Portland Timbers' perfect start to the 2017 season is over.

Though they were ahead after just four minutes of their game Saturday night in Columbus, a confluence of injuries, national team absences, poor refereeing, and second-string defending downed the Timbers 3-2 in a rollercoaster of a game at MAPFRE Stadium.

It was a disappointing result, especially considering that Columbus' winner came just six minutes from time. But even without the likes of Darlington Nagbe and David Guzman β€” against a Crew team was on its game β€” the Timbers put up the kind of worthy fight we so rarely saw on the road last season.

It wasn't an overly sharp Timbers performance. But, on Portland's first trip to Central Ohio since MLS Cup 2015, there was no cause for alarm either. A week from today, at home against New England with a full compliment of players, the Timbers should be back to their best.

This contest was always going to be a tricky one for Caleb Porter to navigate. The international break cost the Timbers Nagbe and Guzman, while Columbus remained at full strength. Maybe more importantly, the Crew β€” having started the season poorly β€” were playing with a point to prove at home.

All that said, it was the Timbers who struck first for the fourth week in a row. Dairon Asprilla, having gotten the call to replace Nagbe on the wing, snuck in behind Waylon Francis, ran onto Sebastian Blanco's through ball, and needed just one touch to fire past Crew goalkeeper Zach Steffan.

It was Asprilla's first goal from open play in a regular season MLS game since April of 2015, and, considering the terms on which Asprilla departed for Colombia last year, an almost extraordinarily unlikely moment.

Last summer, it seemed overwhelmingly unlikely that Asprilla would never play for the Timbers again. But, by all accounts, the winger has returned to Portland a changed man. That he won his starting role on Saturday with a string of good showings in training β€” the problem venue last year β€” spoke volumes.

Asprilla blew a chance to make it two later in the first half, but he worked hard defensively and continued to put pressure on Columbus' right flank for the rest of his shift. It was another step in a career resurrection that both player and club can and should be proud of.

Asprilla's performance aside, there wasn't much for the Timbers to feel good about. Just seven minutes after the Colombian gave Portland the lead, Columbus would convert a corner to tie the game β€” Ola Kamara winning the initial header over Lawrence Olum, and Justin Meram firing the loose ball past Jake Gleeson.

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Eight minutes later, the Timbers were behind. Kamara blew past Olum to latch onto a Federico Higuain long ball when Gleeson came ill-advisedly flying off his line β€” giving Kamara a simple chip to make it 2-1.

With the exception of several Diego Valeri chances β€” one of which stung the left post from a good thirty yards β€” Columbus controlled the rest of the first half. The Crew had all kinds of space and numbers in central midfield, where Amobi Okugo struggled to find the game in Guzman's place next to Diego Chara.

Then, in the third minute of first half stoppage time, the Timbers struck. Alvas Powell whipped in a cross that Valeri dummied for Adi to control, turn on, and fire past Steffan. It was a momentous goal for the big man, who is now tied with John Bain for the club scoring record.

Adi had a chance to set the record outright just forty seconds into the second half, but his header from point-blank range was turned over the bar.

From there, the Crew reasserted control and began to grind the Timbers down. Portland had very little of the ball throughout the night β€” just 35.6% possession in the final telling β€” and Columbus would grab the winner in the 84th minute when Gleeson's save from a Kamara header was followed in by rookie Niko Hansen.

It was a fitting end to an extremely sloppy defensive performance β€” one in which the Timbers conceded from a set piece, a long ball, and a cross β€” and Porter cut an understandably frustrated figure after the game.

But the Timbers were going to have be pretty close to perfect to win with the players they had on Saturday, and they came up decidedly short of that standard.

There was the mistake from Gleeson, the cavalcade of mistakes from Olum, and a poor performance from chronically overmatched referee Silviu Petrescu β€” who gave absurd yellow cards to both Chara and Valeri and missed a handball on Higuain in the buildup to Columbus' second goal.

At some point, starting Olum and Roy Miller in central defense week after week was going to take its toll. As much as he might not be in everyone's good graces right now, the Timbers need Liam Ridgewell back in the lineup.

Portland also likely needed something short of Columbus' best to get a result on Saturday, but the Crew played well. Higuain β€” always good against the Timbers, and benefiting from Guzman's absence β€” turned in an outstanding performance.

It was an important victory for Columbus, who, in truth, have been in a funk ever since the Timbers won a championship on their home field almost a year-and-a-half ago.

To the Timbers, this one meant decidedly less. Next week, back at full strength, they should be raring to go again.