10 man Dynamo advance in Lamar Hunt US Open Cup with 1-0 win over Sporting KC
Two long-time rivals squared off Wednesday night in the Round of 32 in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup with the Houston Dynamo hosting Sporting Kansas City. Houston got their goal early then had to defend for the majority of the game after going down to ten men.
The Dynamo came out in a heavily rotated lineup. Head coach Ben Olsen made ten changes to the lineup that drew with Real Salt Lake, Ethan Bartlow being the only holdover. Sporting also made ten changes to their lineup that won Sunday in Seattle. It was the visitors who had the first chance of the match in the 6th minute. Rookie Stephen Afrifa received a ball all alone in front of goal and skied his shot.
The Dynamo caught a big break and then capitalized six minutes later. Brad Smith, making his first start for Houston, tried a long ball over the top to Sebas Ferreira. Sporting’s defense was able to head the ball away but in fell into the path of Thor Ulfarsson. The Icelander unleashed a daisy cutter with his left foot from 25 yards out that beat SKC goalkeeper John Pulskamp to put the Dynamo up 1-0.
The game turned after 35 minutes. Marinos Tzionis broke free on the Dynamo goal and a retreating Chase Gasper hauled him down just outside the box. The Dynamo defender was shown a straight red for denial of a goal-scoring opportunity and Houston were down to ten men. Goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell did well to make a save to his right on the ensuing free kick to keep the Dynamo ahead. The score remained 1-0 as the teams headed to their locker rooms for the half time break.
With a 1-0 lead and playing with just ten men, the Dynamo parked the bus for the second half. And when I say they parked the bus, they not only left it in the lot, they took the tires and the engine and everything out of it. Houston defended for the entirety of the second half, only rarely getting the ball into Sporting KC’s end of the field. SKC had their chances, most notably Khiry Shelton hitting the post after a bad turnover in the back.
The Dynamo will find out their next opponent in the Round of 16 draw which will take place tomorrow at 1 PM CT. It will be streamed on the Bleacher Report App and the B/R Football YouTube channel.
