Anatomy of a goal: Coco drops a dime to Aliyu
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
The Houston Dynamo were beaten by the New York Red Bulls 2-1 Saturday night. Even in defeat, the Dynamo scored a very well-taken goal with Coco Carrasquilla dropping a dime to Aliyu Ibrahim on the run.
Today we’re breaking down Aliyu’s goal, from winning the ball in midfield to the cool finish. All the images we’re using are from the Apple TV broadcast and Major League Soccer’s YouTube highlight video.
The play begins with Sebastian Kowalczyk stealing the ball (circled) from New York midfielder Frankie Amaya in the Dynamo half of the field.
When Kowalczyk gains possession he immediately breaks up field into the space (arrow), with his head up to survey the field.
As Kowalczyk (circled) passes midfield, he turns his head back to see Coco Carrasquilla joining the play in support (arrow).
Coco receives the ball from Kowalczyk (bottom left circle) and Aliyu Ibrahim (top right circle) immediately puts his hand up to call for the ball.
Coco (circled) takes just a couple of steps across midfield and gets set to launch a cross-field pass to Aliyu into the space he has on the left side (arrow).
Coco’s pass is world-class, going completely across field on a diagonal, hitting Aliyu right in the chest while on the run (circled).
Aliyu’s first touch (circled) is off his chest and takes him away from both New York defenders right to the center of the box. Coco’s pass was brilliant but Aliyu’s control was just as excellent.
Aliyu’s next touch is a shot (circled) and he finishes well to the far post to beat Red Bull goalkeeper Carlos Coronel to open the scoring after just seven minutes.
Another angle on the replay shows just how incredible Coco’s pass was. It hits Aliyu square in the chest and the Nigerian sees the space in front of him that is open.
Even in a loss, the Dynamo scored a goal we were used to seeing from them last season. Liquid football. Counter-Attacking 101. Coco doing Coco things. Whatever you want to call it, hopefully the fans at Shell Energy Stadium see more of it this season, with a different end result.
