With twenty minutes to go and the Portland Timbers leading FC Dallas 1-0 on Saturday night, Diego Chara did what he's doing for seven years in Portland: he stepped in to win the ball in the Timbers' defensive half, and started a breakout — handing off to Diego Valeri just behind the midfield stripe.

From there, Chara took off.

He sprinted forward as Valeri played Dairon Asprilla down the right wing, charged into the box as Asprilla fired in his cross, and then — just as he was about to score his first goal at Providence Park in over two years, just as everyone held their breath — Chara did something rather extraordinary. He let the ball go.

Atiba Harris, racing back to defend Chara, went flying out of the play. That's when Fanendo Adi, all alone on the back post, collected the cross. All he had to do was make one cut, and walk the ball into the net. Without so much as a touch, Diego Chara turned the lights out.

It finished Portland 2, Dallas 0. The Timbers, using four center backs, kept their second straight clean sheet and won for the second straight game. After their May swoon, Caleb Porter's team is back up to second place in the Western Conference — and feeling it.

It was a dominant performance by the Timbers. The goals, forty minutes apart, one in each half, were beautifully worked. Everyone who saw the field pitched in. Porter has hardly sounded more satisfied in a post-game press conference all season.

That said, it wasn't a straight line to three points.

After another fast start, Liam Ridgewell fired a clearance off of Tesho Akindele's back that fell to Maxi Urruti, who slipped in Michael Barrios, who squared for Roland Lamah — only for Jake Gleeson to tremendous point-blank save and Zarek Valentin to clear the ball off the line.

It was a shot in the arm for the Timbers, who would get another shock just minutes later when Ridgewell crumpled to the turf, undid his wrist tape, handed off the captain's armband, and walked down the tunnel under the Timbers Army with a quad injury.

It was an ominous sign. But shortly thereafter, seemingly out of nothing, the Timbers broke through.

Amobi Okugo, inserted for Ridgewell, blocked a Carlos Gruezo clearance towards Blanco. The Argentine broke forward and fired a through ball towards Adi, who took it down, took a touch, took another touch, held off Hernan Grana, and poked the ball past the onrushing Jesse Gonzalez to give the Timbers the lead.

For a striker without a goal in his last five games, it was an awfully composed finish — and the result was that the Timbers, for the first time since late April, held a first half lead. They wouldn't give it up.

Dallas, missing four starters through injury and international duty, struggled mightily to create from open play. Even after the Timbers lost another central defender — Roy Miller leaving the game shortly after Urruti fell down and rolled over his ankle — Portland was mostly untroubled defensively.

The attacking magic was theirs alone to create — and, in the space of two second half minutes, they created plenty of it.

First, the goal that didn't count. In the 70th minute, Valentin lofted a ball towards Valeri, who took it off of his chest, knocked it over his head, turned, and volleyed it past Gonzalez into the side-netting.

It was a thing of beauty, but it was disallowed, as Chris Penso called the play back for a near-silent handball after Valeri's first touch. Justice was served, however, as the Maestro was involved not 90 seconds later as the Timbers got a deserved second goal.

And as brilliant as Valeri's solo effort was, it was that goal that was worth the price of admission. Everything about it — from Valeri's seeing-eye pass, to Asprilla's pinpoint cross, to Chara's dummy, to Adi's almost unnaturally composed finish — was eye candy.

As fabulous as Chara's contribution was — and this was perhaps the quintessential Chara play, he ran sixty yards in order to, at the crucial moment, get out of the way — it was Asprilla who was credited with his well-won first assist of the season.

There are few things more exciting in soccer than watching a player make it — and the Colombian winger, very much an enigma during his time in Portland and very much out of favor just a month ago, might finally be doing just that.

Much as he was against San Jose last Friday night, Asprilla was direct, aggressive, and consistently effective — and confident. So confident, in fact, that shortly after his assist, Asprilla nutmegged Dallas fullback Aaron Guillen so badly that Guillen had to be substituted three minutes later. He might never be seen again.

Dallas, despite a six-goal explosion against Real Salt Lake last weekend, is in a rut. Their night was more or less summed up by misfiring DP forward Cristian Coleman, whose first contribution to the game after entering it as a substitute was to smash an open shot from six yards out for a thrown-in on the opposite side of the field.

Had Dallas been able to field its full complement of players, this would have been a different match. But the Timbers were also down two significant starters — four by the end of the night — and didn't suffer for it.

The offseason emphasis on depth is paying dividends, and that might have to continue into July. Miller likely won't be out for long, but there serious concern for Ridgewell — whose body seems to giving out on him just as Nat Borchers' body did midway through last season.

For Ridgewell, who was just getting into a groove after missing six straight games at the start of the season, this is an unfortunate time to leave the lineup. This is a fun Timbers team right now — one that, just in time for the summer, has recovered a familiar winning feeling.