Dynamo concede late in 1-1 draw with St. Louis
(image via Billy Mears)
The Houston Dynamo returned from the international break for a big match at home against Western Conference leaders St. Louis CITY SC. With the Dynamo fighting to get back into the playoffs after a long drought, this was the kind of match that could help propel the team even further in their resurgent 2023 season. Houston held the lead after a Corey Baird first half goal but the visitors fought back with a late Joao Klauss goal to earn a 1-1 draw.
The press that St. Louis is known for pestered the Dynamo early on. Houston tried repeatedly to play out of the back but had trouble breaking City’s press. Any time a Dynamo player had the ball in their own half, there was a white jersey right on their back. When St. Louis had the ball, the Dynamo were very aggressive in closing down. The aggresiveness kept St. Louis frustrated but did lead to three first half yellow cards. Erik Sviatchenko, Franco Escobar, and Hector Herrera all went into the book.
AZ Jackson began to find space for the away side on the attack. Twice, in the 28th and 33rd minute, the St. Louis attacker got shots off, but both times Steve Clark came up with saves. A bit of magic from the home side opened the scoring minutes later.
Coco Carrasquilla drove into the box in the 42nd minute and pulled the ball back for Amine Bassi. The Moroccan found Herrera for a nice give-and-go and Bassi stood the ball up to the back post. The chip took a slight deflection but Corey Baird was there to leap and head the ball into the net to open the scoring.
The Dynamo would take the 1-0 lead into halftime. The home team led on the score board and dominated possession, with 67% to the 33% of St. Louis. The away side had four shots on target, but Steve Clark kept the ball out of the Dynamo net.
With a 1-0 lead, the Dynamo looked poised to extend their advantage but could never find the break through. Coco Carrasquilla and Franco Escobar picked up yellow cards, ruling them out for Wednesday’s home match with Vancouver. The lack of finishing would catch up to the Dynamo as the away side found a late equalizer.
St. Louis got to the end line in the 87th minute and the ball was pulled back for Tomas Ostrak. His one-time shot looked destined for the top corner but Clark made a huge save. Unfortunately for the Dynamo the rebound fell right to the head of Joao Klauss who headed into the open net to the the game at 1.
Houston will return to Shell Energy Stadium on Wednesday night to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps, another team hanging around at the top of the table in the Western Conference. The matches are coming often for the Dynamo over the next two weeks, including the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup final. They’ll look to shake off the disappointment of this late equalizer and find more points on Wednesday.
