From the get-go, the Timbers were different. Hot out of the gate, crisp in possession, interchanging with purpose, and playing with the kind of verve and conviction that made this city fall so hard for its soccer team in 2013.

But when the goal didn't come in the first half, and then the first sixty minutes, and then the first eighty, it felt all too much like so many Timbers games over the last year and a half: Good performance, no final result.

And then, it just clicked.

The Timbers broke through courtesy of an unlikely hero: DP striker Fanendo Adi, under-fire, benched, and generally lost at sea for the last month, pouring in his trademark brace in absolutely clinical style and making sure that the result matched the excellence of the Portland performance.

It was sheer euphoria at Providence Park, and for a Timbers Army that was outrageously, even unusually, loud all night long. It wasn't just the win, it was everything that went in to it. Vintage Caleb Porter Timbers. Nothing like it.

MORE AFTER THE JUMP!

The Timbers stated their intent early, taking the match to New England — who, it has to be said, were without the services of their two best players. The final shot count would read 19-4 Timbers, the Revolution's best chance was a late momentary slip from Portland 'keeper Adam Larsen Kwarasey.

Caleb Porter rolled with the Argentine duo of Gaston Fernandez and Maxi Urruti to lead the Timbers attack, and the result was that which Porter envisioned before the the start of the 2014 season. Quick, clever, fluid attacking play with plenty of possession and enough opportunities to score.

At times in the first half, it was champagne football from the Timbers. Darlington Nabge — playing, as usual, with more urgency in Diego Valeri's absence — was terrific. Revs full-back London Woodbury couldn't hang with him, and Woodbury wasn't the only player Nagbe got booked on the night.

Nagbe threatened several times from long-range, as the Timbers bombed away at a very solid Bobby Shuttleworth in the New England goal.

But the Revs were well organized, and it ended up taking 86 minutes for Portland to get their goal. It came via Nagbe, who went in for a 50-50 ball from Lee Nguyen, a seconds later had Nguyen scything him down from behind.

Will Johnson stepped over the resulting free-kick, and it was Jorge Villafaña who instead planted a beauty of a cross on Adi's head. The Nigerian made no mistake, and just minutes later, he had his second when Alvas Powell, seemingly completing a pass in the attacking half for the first time in the match, played him in at the near post for a lovely flicked finish.

Adi can't help himself. He only scores in twos. That plane ticket he seemingly has out of town this summer? Might want to think twice about it now.

But while Adi will be plenty happy — and possibly even more relieved — to take the plaudits, but it was Nagbe, who was virtually unplayable, and Diego Chara who did the most to earn a Timbers win.

Chara went full Energizer Bunny on the Revs, but it wasn't just his defense. Playing ahead of Will Johnson — an astute tactical shift from Porter so far this year — Chara was so good offensively that the Timbers were playing through him at the end of the match.

Chara's increased role left Johnson to play a quiet, gritty game in front of a back-four that was nonplussed by a pedestrian Revolution attack. Dairon Asprilla was particularly bright on the right wing. His dynamism and defensive proclivity gives the Timbers a lot more menace than Rodney Wallace brings. Hopefully the ankle injury that Asprilla picked up in the second half won't keep him out long — he's just starting to show his best self in MLS.

Fernandez's long-term prognosis doesn't appear to be good in Portland, even as he showed again the wily, self-assured game that had the Timbers pursuing him in the first place last year. Fernandez's reaction when he was substituted was cover-your-eyes bad. La Gata threw his wrist-tape into the goalmouth, pouted, and drudged off the field into the Timbers bench area where Caleb Porter completely ignored him.

Porter called the right shot though — and inserting Adi into the match when Asprilla went down, instead of going for Ishmael Yartey in a like-for-like switch, made all the difference.

So instead of conciliatory Porter, we'll get swaggering Porter for the time being. It's better that way. Porter, certainly, has been somewhat vindicated for the Timbers' April and May swoon. This is the record third straight MLS win for Portland, and they've all come without Valeri.

This was a gem of a game. Wire to wire. Forget about that direct, jaded football Portland was playing at the beginning of the year. The Timbers threw everything they had at this match, and they were rewarded. When that kind of progressive football is backed by a rock-solid defense, you have a recipe for major success.

At home, Portland should dominate. This club should be ambitious. It's an attitude. Sans Valeri, through heat, frustration, and another injury, they played the defending Eastern Conference champions off the field.

The Timbers deserved this. Villafana's cross was a dream. Adi played like a striker that is four years older and fifty goals richer. Sometimes, the stars align. With Providence Park thundering, Portland played like a big team. In the end, it won like one too.