Dynamo 2sday: Dos dominate Real Monarchs for first home win
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
If you spend any time watching Houston Dynamo 2 play, you can see the family atmosphere in the team, from coaching staff down to the players. You can see them having fun on social media or even out at a Dash game, cheering on the women. Those feel-good vibes can translate to play on the field, and they did on Sunday with Dynamo Dos getting their first home win of the season with a 3-0 thrashing of Real Monarchs.
Forward Zeke Soto had to leave the match after just 14 minutes with an injury and Beto Avila came on to replace him. Avila might have started the game on the bench, but he came in and put on a man of the match performance. Houston’s opening goal was all because of the hustle of Avila. Real Monarchs attempted playing the ball out of the back and a pass went back to their goalkeeper Fernando Delgado. The keeper made a poor touch as the ball got too far away from him and Avila was there to bounce. He swiped the ball from Delgado and tapped into the empty net to give Dynamo 2 a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute. “The first goal comes from the press and the work rate of the entire group,” head coach Kenny Bundy said after the match. “It finishes with Beto (Avila) doing exactly what we ask him to do, which is force turnovers when he presses. We deserved that.”
Houston stayed pressuring the guests and they doubled their lead in first half stoppage time. Diego Gonzalez found Avila in the box. Avila laid off to Djevencio van der Kust on the left side of the box. The Dutch defender laced a low shot to the back post, past the dive of Delgado, to put Houston up 2-0 as the teams went to the half. It was van der Kust’s first goal for the club since joining on loan from the Netherlands. “Then the second goal again we forced a mistake,” Bundy said. “Diego (Gonazlez) plays a great ball back into the front line, and Beto plays it to (MF) Djevencio (van der Kust), and he finishes.” Van der Kust has had a hard time breaking into the first team, but with more performances like the one we saw Sunday, he could have a chance to extend his loan and get time with the senior squad.
Real Monarchs were reduced to ten men in the 54th minute when Omar Alba was shown his second yellow for a foul on Chase Gasper. Moments later the match would be halted because of lightning in the area, a theme for the Houston soccer teams of late. After a 67-minute delay, the teams returned to the field and Dynamo Dos piled on the pressure as they searched for a third goal against the 10-man Monarchs to see of the game.
The third goal came in the 72nd minute and it was once again Avila pulling the strings. Avila skipped away from a defender on the left side then pulled the ball back to the top of the box for Gonzalez. The Houston midfielder took a touch then fired into the bottom corner past Delgado for Dynamo 2’s third of the night. “We worked a lot on finishing this week from around the box, and we knew that the ball that was cut back to the top of the 18 was going to be on,” Bundy said about the third goal. “And Beto does a great job cutting the ball back for Diego’s first touch, and he finishes. It’s exactly what we trained.”
Academy product Tate Lampman came on in the 79th minute for his professional debut and the defender helped finish off the shutout and a big three points for Houston. It was the first win of the season for Dynamo 2 at home, and a much needed three points. Avila’s goal and two assist performance was the catalyst as he came off the bench to provide an offensive spark. The team desperately needed some offense and Bundy told his guys that this week, looking for a response. “We had a conversation with both Beto and Zeke (Soto) this week and told them that we need more out of them,” the Dynamo 2 head coach said after the win. “It’s unfortunate that Zeke went down and had to come out because, I thought he started the game really strongly. To have that mentality from a guy who is not starting, to come in and impact the game the way he did right from the get-go, that speaks volumes about how professional he is. I’m really happy for Beto, and I’m really happy that all three goals are pure quality.”
Avila is a player with immense talent and quality. He started red hot in MLS NEXT Pro last season and was signed to the Dynamo first team. He got some minutes under Paulo Nagamura but has not really had an extended run with the Dynamo. Avila has kept his head down and continued to work hard with Dos. “It was really important for the group because we set a really high standard for ourselves,” Avila said after the game. “We finally played together, we got a clean sheet and we got more than one goal. We were just a different team tonight. It feels good to win.”
Dynamo 2 will follow the first team to North Texas this weekend for rivalry week as they head to Arlington to take on North Texas SC on Sunday. A big win heading into a rivalry game is big and the team will look to keep that momentum going as they travel to Arlington. “It was an important win for us because we finally found our rhythm,” Avila said. “Now we can’t let go of that rhythm. Now is our time to step on it and keep going. No stopping now.”
The vibes, as they say, are immaculate right now. This team has fun playing together and they love playing for Bundy. You can tell they are a very tight-knit group who fight for each other more than anything. A 3-0 win at home, and what better way to continue the atmosphere than a post-game party?
