But following Portland’s latest loss to Vancouver, a 4-1 season-opening defeat at Providence Park that came on the heels of Portland’s 5-0 loss to the Whitecaps to end last season, Timbers manager Phil Neville didn’t spend much time searching for the positives.

Canadian international midfielder Jayden Nelson recorded a goal and three assists as the Whitecaps trounced the Portland Timbers on Sunday.

Unfortunately for the home side, Vancouver star Ryan Gauld slotted home from inside the area after a howler from Portland shot-stopper Maxime Crepeau led to the Scottish midfielde

Vancouver_Yohei Takaoka ... Portland_Maxime Crepeau; Jimer Fory, Zac McGraw, Kamal Miller, Finn Surman (Ian Smith, 66th); David Ayala (David Pereira Da Costa, 46th), Diego Chara, Joao Ortiz ...

An opening weekend clash against Cascadia Cup rivals Vancouver Whitecaps was billed as the perfect way to begin the season, but center-back Kamal Miller was given his marching orders after being judged to have brought down Whitecaps forward Brian White as the last man.

Vancouver_Yohei Takaoka; Sam Adekugbe (Edier Ocampo, 82nd), Tristan Blackmon, Mathias Laborda, Ranko Veselinovic; Sebastian Berhalter (Jeevan Badwal, 82nd), Andres Cubas (Ralph Priso, 63rd), Ryan Gauld, Pedro Vite; Jayden Nelson (Ali Ahmed, 62nd), Brian White (Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau, 90th+3).