Portland Timbers head coach Phil Neville believes it was important that his new signings made their first appearance for the club at home.

The Timbers kicked off their 2026 MLS campaign with a 3-2 win over the Columbus Crew at Providence Park, with Ariel Lassiter scoring the winner in the 88th minute.

It was the third time in the past four seasons that the Timbers opened their league season with a victory.

Neville handed debuts to Alex Bonetig, Brandon Bye and Cole Bassett, who assisted Antony in front of the home fans in Portland.

The former England women's boss felt it was necessary to give those players debuts at home before featuring in away games, with a trip to Colorado Rapids up next for the Timbers.

"I thought it was important to give the new players their debuts at Providence Park because I think it's important for them to sample what it's like to be a Portland Timbers player," said Neville.

"I've looked at Cole [Bassett] all pre-season and I think he's experienced now what this club's all about.

"I think that was really important for [Alex] Bonetig and Brandon Bye as well. So, I think that was my reasoning behind that.

"I thought it was a brilliant game of football with two teams that wanted to play the right way.

"It could have gone either way, but I'm pleased that it fell our way."

Colorado, meanwhile, made a losing start to the season in a 2-0 defeat to the Seattle Sounders.

The Rapids were just one of three teams in the Western Conference to lose their opening match, while they are now winless in their last five league games.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Colorado Rapids – Lucas Herrington

Eighteen-year-old Herrington completed 89 of his 92 attempted passes in his Rapids debut against Seattle.

It was the most successful passes by a player 18 years old or younger in an MLS match since Opta began detailed data collection of the league in 2010.

Portland Timbers – Antony

Antony has scored five goals in five career regular-season matches against Colorado, with the Houston Dynamo (two) the only other MLS opponent he’s scored against more than once.

No player has scored more goals against the Rapids than Antony since his first meeting with Colorado in September 2023.

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

The Timbers have won 13 of their 17 all-time meetings with the Rapids in Portland in all competitions (D2 L2), including winning the last five in a row by a combined score of 16-4.

However, Portland have won their first two matches of an MLS season only once before, posting wins over Minnesota United, LA Galaxy and Houston to begin the club’s 2017 campaign.

The Rapids opened their season with a defeat for the fourth time in the last five years. Colorado has started an MLS campaign with consecutive defeats only once in the post-shootout era (since 2000), losing to FC Dallas and the Philadelphia Union to open the 2013 season.

On home soil last season, Colorado had eight wins, four draws, and five losses in 17 MLS contests. Portland, meanwhile, had four wins, five draws, and 10 losses in their 19 league matches away from home.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Colorado Rapids – 38.2%

Draw – 26.5%

Portland Timbers – 35.3%