Vincent Janssen Scores Hat Trick in First Portland Timbers Start to Rewrite the Club Record Book

• Vincent Janssen scored a hat trick in his first start for the Portland Timbers, becoming the first player in club history to record three goals in an MLS match.
• The 32-year-old Dutch forward is only the third player in league history to score a hat trick in his first MLS start, joining Didier Drogba and Milan Iloski.
• Janssen’s treble carried Portland to a 5-4 win over Minnesota United, moving the club level with seventh-place Colorado Rapids with 11 matches left in the regular season.

A Club Waits 522 Matches for This Moment

Vincent Janssen needed just four appearances in a Portland Timbers shirt to do something no player in the club’s history had managed before him. The Dutch forward scored a hat trick against Minnesota United on Saturday at Providence Park, becoming the first Timbers player ever to record three goals in a single MLS match. It had taken the club 522 matches to get there, longer than any other franchise in the league’s history.

Janssen opened his account from the penalty spot in the eleventh minute, doubled it in the twenty-sixth to put Portland 3-0 up, and then settled the contest for good in the fifty-fifth minute after Minnesota had rallied to level the match. Taking a feed from Ariel Lassiter, he turned inside the box and fired a first-time effort low inside the post for what proved to be the winner in a 5-4 finish.

Third in League History to Do It in a First Start

The achievement means more than a line in the club record books. Janssen became just the third player in MLS history to score a hat trick in his first start for a team, joining Didier Drogba, who managed the feat for CF Montreal, and Philadelphia Union forward Milan Iloski, who did it while at San Diego FC. It is rare company for a player who arrived in Portland in late July after four seasons in Belgium.

“Obviously it’s very special to score a hat trick, it’s always a special moment in your career. You don’t have a lot of them,” Janssen told Apple TV after the match. “It’s a pleasure. I was able to sign here a month ago, a bit longer. To be able to be part of this club, I’m very proud and happy of that, and today this is a way of showing the appreciation back to the team and to the fans.”

Janssen spent the previous four seasons with Belgian Pro League side Royal Antwerp, where he contributed 64 goals and 27 assists across 173 appearances in all competitions. That scoring record made him an attractive target for Portland ahead of the summer transfer window, though few could have predicted the speed at which he would announce himself to MLS.

A Wild Afternoon at Providence Park

Minnesota United refused to fold after falling three goals behind, clawing their way back into the match before Janssen’s third goal restored Portland’s cushion. The Timbers then had to survive a nervy finish as Minnesota pushed for a second comeback, with the match finishing 5-4 in Portland’s favor. Janssen was withdrawn in the sixty-eighth minute to a standing ovation from the home crowd, his work for the day already done.

The result moved Portland level on points with seventh-place Colorado Rapids, with 11 matches remaining in the regular season as the Timbers push for a playoff position. For a club that had gone more than five hundred matches without a hat trick from any player, finding one from a forward barely a month into his tenure offers a timely boost heading into the closing stretch of the campaign.

What the Milestone Means for Portland’s Run-In

Timbers officials had already pitched Janssen’s arrival as a statement of intent from a side looking to strengthen its attack for a playoff push, but a first start yielding three goals exceeds anything the club could reasonably have expected this quickly. Head coach and staff will now have to balance minutes carefully for a 32-year-old carrying a heavy recent workload, while opposing defenses in the Western Conference have been served notice of the threat he poses in behind and in the box.

“Vinny, thank you for changing our lives,” the Timbers wrote on social media in the aftermath, a message that captures how quickly a single afternoon reshaped expectations around the club’s attack. With 11 games left to play and Portland fighting for postseason positioning, Janssen has given his new club both a record entry and a reason to believe their attack has another gear heading into the run-in.

WRITTEN BY

Jarrod

Jarrod Partridge is the Founder of Futbol Chronicle and an accredited journalist with over 30 years of experience following international football. A member of the AIPS International Sports Press Association, Jarrod has covered matches at stadiums around the world, bringing first-hand insight to every match report, player profile, and tactical analysis he writes.

More articles by Jarrod →