Ghana goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey guided Portland Timbers to become Major League Soccer champions for the first time as they beat Harrison Afful's Columbus Crew 2-1 in the final on Sunday night.

The Norway-born shot-stopper lifted the trophy together with his teammates in the match settled by the early part of the game with all the three goals scored by the 18th minute.

Diego Valeri put Portland in the lead after just 27 seconds when he took advantage of goalkeeping error by forcing goalkeeper Steve Clark in a wrong clearance before slamming home the opener.

The strike on 27 seconds, which saw the attempted clearance bouncing off the Argentine and into the net, becomes the fastest goal in the history of the MLS Cup - the name given to the final.

Rodney Wallace headed in six minutes later to it 2-0 before Kei Kamara's effort turned out to be only a consolation for the home side.

Afful's team-mate, Kamara who is from Sierra Leone scored his 26th goal of the season after Kwarasey failed to properly handle a cross.

But it mattered little as Kwarasey and his teammates were handed the trophy to end his successful first year in America's top-flight league.

This comes just days after the Ghana international scooped the Save of Year award from the MLS.