In a battle between two teams that have shown little offensive output, but good defense so far this season, it’s hardly surprising that the number of quality chances for either team would be limited. The first good chance for either team would be for the visitors in the 12th minute, when a clearance out of the Timbers box was passed to the foot of Martin Nash, whose shot from 25 yards out curled right into the hands of Timbers goalkeeper Ray Burse.

The Whitecaps had most of the possession in the early part of the first half and would produce another good chance in the 20th minute when Justin Moose made a run to the top of the Timbers box and hit a hard shot that was smothered by Burse. The visitors would get another good look at goal in the 25th minute which Vicente Arze put a few yards over the bar from 20 yards out.

In the 28th minute, the Timbers ran a near-perfect set play that came within inches of giving the Timbers a lead when a throw-in from Scot Thompson to Cameron Knowles was headed to Chris Brown, who headed the ball back into the run of Knowles who had an open net but a tough angle, but missed the goal by a few inches from barely a yard out and the golden chance was lost. Just a few minutes later, Vancouver’s Eduardo Sebrango made a nice move at the top of the Timbers box, but his shot was blocked off his foot by Timbers defender Leonard Griffin.

The Whitecaps would have their best chance of the first half in the 35th minute when a Vancouver throw-in could not be cleared from the Timbers box, and eventually Arze would get an open look from six yards out that he headed over the crossbar, and it would be the last good chance of the half for either team and it was scoreless at the break.

As the rain started early in the second half, neither team was threatening to score for the first 15 minutes as most of the play shifted to midfield, but a Whitecaps goal would appear out of nowhere in the 60th minute when a Timbers clearance was played back into the Timbers end by Adrian Cann, and with Arze battling with Portland’s Scot Thompson for the ball as he neared the corner of the box, Burse charged off his line and Arze chipped the ball towards goal and it would bounce once before slipping inside the right post before any retreating defender could get to the ball, and the Whitecaps would have a 1-0 lead.

With rain getting heavier and lightning striking buildings to the north of PGE Park, the Timbers finally started pressing forward, and six minutes after the goal, the Timbers had a great chance to level the score when a headed pass from Lawrence Olum gave Takayuki Suzuki a great look from 15 yards out but his blast was right into the chest of Whitecaps goalkeeper Jay Nolly. One minute later, the Timbers had another great opportunity when Suzuki’s cross found the head of Brown, whose header missed the right post by less than a yard. Within a few minutes, the Timbers had another good chance when Olum's header off a throw-in was just over the bar and nestled into the netting on top of the goal.

In the 78th minute, the Timbers saw their last dangerous scoring chance when Olum made a run into the box from a tight angle and crossed from just a few yards out, but the pass was deflected back out of the box by the Whitecaps defense.

The Whitecaps were keeping seven players behind the ball trying to protect their lead, but did get a few shots on goal late in the match, the first in the 80th minute on a shot by tony Donatelli from 25 yards out that was easily saved by Burse, and a better chance two minutes later when Sebrango was unable to control a pass in the Timbers box, and Burse smothered the ball before the Whitecaps striker could recover.

The final few minutes of the match would see several Timbers free kicks in the Whitecaps end and corner kicks, but no serious shots on goal for the Timbers, though the Whitecaps nearly put in a second goal deep in stoppage time when Alfredo Valente's shot was tipped wide by Burse, but the match would end with the Whitecaps getting the 1-0 victory.

With the loss, the Timbers’ 18 game regular season home undefeated streak was broken, as well as their 24 match home undefeated streak in all matches, going back to their last loss on September 7, 2006 vs. Atlanta. It was also the first win for Vancouver at PGE Park since at 2-0 win over the Timbers on July 2, 2004.

Jay Nolly had one save for the Whitecaps in the winning effort, while Ray Burse had four saves for the Timbers.