Breakfast Links - June 26, 2023

(image via Houston Dynamo FC)

Disappointing is the word that comes to mind when describing this weekend for the Houston teams. Hopefully the rest of everyone’s weekend went well! Here are your links to start the new week.

Houston

The Dynamo opened the weekend on Saturday, losing 3-0 on the road to Austin FC. The less we talk about this game the better, as the Dynamo looked extremely poor on both sides of the ball. The defenders were caught out due to brilliant crosses on three separate occasions for Austin’s goals. Nothing much went well for the Dynamo going forward as there wasn’t many key chances to score. There is loads for Ben Olsen and the team to learn from in this one as the Dynamo travel to Seattle for a match on Saturday.

To continue the disappointment, Dynamo 2 lost at home again, this time against San Jose Earthquakes II. Dynamo 2 went down early to a Eduardo Blancas goal and then quickly equalized through Brad Smith. Rudi Castro found the second goal for San Jose to put them up 2-1 before the half. Dos unfortunately never found the equalizer and lost the match 2-1. Another disappointing loss after such a great run of form.

The best result of the weekend came with the Dash drawing 0-0 on the road to Angel City FC. For the second game in a row, the Dash had play a large chunk of the game with only 10 players. Once again while down to 10, the Dash founda way to grind out a point. The game featured some incredible goalkeeping from Jane Campbell in the final minutes to earn the Dash a tough point that may feel like a win.

MLS/NWSL

This week in NWSL, The Portland Thorns have retaken the top spot after beating Washington Spirit 4-2 at home. Washington came into this week sitting in second place just ahead of Portland before Sophia Smith ruined their weekend. The game was extremely tight within the first half, Sophia Smith and Ashley Hatch traded goals within the first 20 minutes. Smith went and scored once again just minutes later to make it 2-1. Ashely Sanchez and Smith then traded goals right at the start of the half to make the game 3-2 in favor of Portland. That third goal was Sophia’s hat trick, which was her second of the season. Morgan Weaver put in another goal to crush the Spirit’s spirit.

Within MLS we saw the two teams at the top of the Eastern Conference suffer losses on the road. Nashville went away to Columbus and lost 2-0 off a Christian Ramirez goal and an own goal from Jack Maher. This was not the most shocking result, as the Crew have been on a tear lately. The FC Cincinnati result was more shocking as they have looked unbeatable most of the year. They lost on the road to D.C. United on a night where it seemed like nothing could go wrong for DC. Goals came from Pedro Santos, Derrick Williams, and Cristian Dajome to put D.C. back in the playoff picture.

Around the World

The Concacaf Gold Cup kicked off Saturday night with the United States playing Jamaica. While the Unites States dominated most of the match, Jamaica made the most of their counter attacks and set pieces to score the game’s first goal. The United States managed to find the late equalizer through Brandon Vazquez and the game ended tied at one each. Also in Group A, Trinidad and Tobago dominated Saint Kitts and Nevis 3-0. The game was won in the midfield where Neveal Hackshaw dominated and had two assists.

In Group B, Haiti vs Qatar started the double header at NRG Stadium. Qatar scored just 20 minutes in through Yusuf Abdurisag. Haiti leveled the score from the spot with Duckens Nazon tucking away his penalty kick. The second half was very back and forth with Haiti finding the winning goal in stoppage time from Frantzdy Pierrot. The other game for Group B saw Mexico dismantle a poor Honduras team 4-0. Midfielder Luis Romo got things started with a goal in the first minute. He then scored once again just 20 minutes later. Orbelin Pineda and Luis Chavez scored the other two goals in the second half to sink Honduras and put El Tri at the top of the group.