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Adam Fondren/The Deseret News via AP

With his headed goal two minutes after halftime on Saturday night at the Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, Portland Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri became the first player in the 22-year history of Major League Soccer to score a goal in eight consecutive games.

The fact that Valeri broke the record for most consecutive games with a goal with a header speaks volumes. Entering this season, Valeri had scored 39 MLS goals for the Timbers β€” and none with his head.

So in a season in which he scored his fiftieth MLS goal, set the Timbers' single-season scoring record, set their career scoring record, and scored in eight straight games and counting, perhaps the most impressive thing Valeri has done has been to turn himself into a regular old heading machine.

The record-setter? It wasn't Valeri's first or second headed goal of the year. It was his fifth.

There is, it seems, just about nothing the Maestro cannot do. The Timbers fell 2-1 at Real Salt Lake on Saturday night, but the result of the game felt nearly immaterial next to Valeri's accomplishment during it. We are, without a doubt, watching a historic player on a historic run.

Even in a broader sense, keeping Valeri's streak alive might have been the most urgent task facing the Timbers on Saturday night.

Thanks to their win at New York last weekend β€” and, to a lesser extent, their draw in Seattle at the end of August β€” the Timbers had already set themselves up to compete for the Western Conference title over the last month of the season before they hit the field in Sandy.

That was a good thing. Because after two very strong road performances in a row, the Timbers dropped a level on Saturday night. Portland's season has been marked by fast starts and late letdowns, but this game took on a decidedly different shape.

Over the first half hour, the Timbers were barely in the game in the game β€” and Salt Lake took the lead in the fifteenth minute, when, after a turnover in midfield, Albert Rusnak drove forward and lashed a shot from twenty yards that cracked in past former Salt Lake goalkeeper Jeff Attinella.

It was a soft goal to concede β€” especially for Attinella, in his first start as the club's top-choice goalkeeper β€” but it wasn't undeserved. The Timbers' midfield, sans Diego Chara, couldn't get a foothold. Their backline, plus Liam Ridgewell, was scrambling to keep tabs on RSL's front three.

One of those three β€” Luis Silva β€” had an excellent chance to double his team's lead after thirty minutes when slipped in behind by Joao Plata, but Attinella stood tall to make the save.

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Adam Fondren/The Deseret News via AP

The Timbers remained within striking distance, and had two golden opportunities to level the match going into the break when Sebastian Blanco drove to the byline and set the table for Valeri. The Maestro's sliding shot was palmed into the path of Dairon Asprilla, but the Colombian lashed the rebound wide.

Just after the restart, though, Asprilla would make amends by helping Valeri make history.

It was Asprilla's cross that found Valeri streaking in between Kyle Beckerman and Tony Beltran on the right side of the six yard box, and Valeri who beat Nick Rimando by planting his header off the grass and into the bottom left corner.

The goal drew Portland back into the game, and set up a competitive second half. But in the end, the Timbers didn't have enough answers for Salt Lake's cadre of young attacking talent.

One matchup proved particularly problematic. Caleb Porter opted to start Roy Miller over Vytas at left back for Miller's defense, but the Costa Rican was no match for RSL's 20-year-old Venezuelan sensation Jefferson Savarino.

Savarino lit up Miller all night, and then, on the hour mark, won the game with a sumptuous solo goal β€” scored when Savarino picked up the ball from Rusnak on the edge of the area, took two steps towards Miller, cut inside, and lofted a shot over Attinella into the far corner. Porter postgame called it "Goal of the Week for sure."

The Timbers had a couple of free kick chances over the final half hour, but needed another big one-against-one save from Attinella to stay in the game. With a short bench and RSL playing for their playoff lives, there would be no late goal.

Had Portland been able to call on Fanendo Adi and his seven career goals against Salt Lake, it might have been a different story. The Timbers have done extraordinarily well without their striker over the last month and change, but they him back in the fold as soon as possible. It's a different team with him on the field.

That said, this wasn't by any means a bad loss for the Timbers. Were the season to start over today, RSL would make the playoffs at a canter. They're playing now with the verve that shot Houston to the top of the table in the first half of the season.

Salt Lake got the goals from their young attacking starlets, but they also got big-time performances from their few remaining old hands β€” namely Beckerman and Rimando, two players who players who, before Saturday night, hadn't given Portland their best in some time.

The Timbers are never resigned to losing β€” as any look at Caleb Porter last night would have informed you β€” but they won't be losing any sleep over this one.

Portland has the league's hottest player, three of their final four games at home, and every chance to nail down a top-two Western Conference finish and the accompanying playoff bye. It should, once again in an odd year, be a mighty fun ride to the finish.