Washington, Aug 16 (AP) Wayne Rooney scored two goals and D.C. United beat the Portland Timbers 4-1 on Wednesday night to move out of last place in the Eastern Conference.

D.C. (6-9-6) won its third consecutive home game. Portland (10-5-7) has lost two straight after going unbeaten in its previous 15 matches.

Rooney, the English star who joined the Washington club in June, tied it at 1 in the 43rd minute by running past the defense for Yamil Asad's through ball and rolling it by Jeff Attinella.

Rooney bent in a free kick in the 68th for his third MLS goal. Oniel Fisher made it 2-1 in the second minute of the second half with his first career goal. Luciano Acosta's individual effort set it up, drawing multiple defenders and finding Fisher for a shot off the post and in.

Former Timber Darren Mattocks capped the scoring on a breakaway in stoppage time for his ninth goal. D.C. goalkeeper Bill Hamid started in his first appearance since rejoining United on a 1 1/2-year loan from the Danish club FC Midtjylland.

For Portland, Samuel Armenteros scored his eighth goal of the season in the 35th and nearly scored again two minutes later, but Hamid came out of his area to deny a header. AP

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)