Dynamo 2sday: Dos fall below playoff line after loss to St. Louis
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
St. Louis CITY SC 2 came to Houston on the back of a couple of great victories at home to take on Dynamo 2 on Sunday. This would be a vital match up in the Western Conference regarding the playoff chase for both clubs and coach Kenny Bundy knew it would be a tough one.
“It’s going to be the second time we’ve played them this year,” Bundy said before the match. “They're on a little bit of a run. We're sitting in a really important position, so it should be a very good game.”
Houston came into this match after a devastating 4-0 loss to Galaxy II at home and were looking to turn the momentum around. After this game there will be only one home game left in the season, meaning points here would be crucial.
Faysal Bettache would strike first for the visitors early in the game. In the 11th minute, Celio Pompeu pressured Mujeeb Murana and stole the ball. Pompeu made a quick run into the box and squared the ball Bettache. Faysal was there to tap the ball into the goal and get his first goal of the night to put St. Louis up 1-0.
The second goal for the visitors would come shortly after, in the 26th minute. Once again, Pompeu would go one on one with Murana on the touch line. He took the ball again and shook Murana off and once again found Bettache. Faysal was alone at the penalty spot and would slide the ball past Xavier Valdez for his second goal of the match and his sixth of the year.
Papa Ndoye would get one back for the Dynamo in the 39th minute. Jacob Evans drove the ball and found Isaiah LeFlore on the left. He tried to cross the ball and it bounced of the back of a defender. Ndoye would get to the loose ball and blast a rocket into the back of the net. The goal cut the St. Louis lead to 2-1 and gave Houston a fighting chance going into the second half of the game.
The player of the match would show up again just second into the second half and this time Bettache would score as they say in the streets, a “banger”. The striker finished off his hat trick with great upper ninety shot that was impossible for Valdez to put a hand on. The away side went up 3-1 in the 46th minute and were on their way to victory.
Unfortunately, the home team couldn’t pull off a comeback, dropping valuable points against a conference rival. The loss put Dynamo 2 right below the playoff line. St. Louis CITY 2 now sits in fifth place with 40 points, Earthquakes II in 6th with 39 points, MNUFC2 in 7th with 38 points, and Houston Dynamo Dos are right under the line in 8th place with 37 points.
With only three games left in the regular season every point will be extremely vital for the teams still wanting to clinch a berth in the post season. “We control our destiny right now,” Bundy said after the loss. “We can go out and get the points that we need. It's about making sure that they believe that the staff believes in them. That is the number one thing. The second thing is to make sure that these games that we are dropping. You can look at the score line and we aren't getting pummeled. We're not outplayed.”
The next match for Dynamo 2 will be away in Portland before coming back home to play an already eliminated North Texas SC. The Timbers now sit in 10th place with 31 points after a 4-0 defeat to Tacoma Defiance and will be looking to earn points at home versus Houston.
The game is scheduled for September 10th at 9 PM and as always you can catch the match on Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass.
