Dynamo dominate LA Galaxy behind Amine Bassi brace
(image via Houston Dynamo FC/Twitter)
Weather could not have been any better at Shell Energy Stadium on Saturday night. The play on the pitch may have been even better from the Houston Dynamo. A goal from Hector Herrera and a brace from Amine Bassi gave Houston a dominating 3-0 win over the visiting LA Galaxy.
Houston started on the front foot with Coco Carrasquilla involved from the start. The Panamanian had a shot from outside the box just one minute in but it was blocked by teammate Corey Baird. Wingers Ivan Franco and Amine Bassi had shots in the 13th and 16th minutes respectively that went high.
LA were awarded a penalty after 23 minutes when former Dynamo Memo Rodriguez went down in the box. Referee Alex Chilowicz went to the monitor for a VAR check and the penalty was waved off. LA had a couple of chances on that in but a Dynamo break in the 35th minute led to the opening goal.
Forward Corey Baird was fouled just outside the box and captain Hector Herrera stepped up for the free kick. The Mexican's ball deflected off the Galaxy well and found itโs way in at the back post past LA goalkeeper Jonathan Klinsmann to give the Dynamo the lead. It was Herreraโs second goal of the season and he once again ran to head coach Ben Olsen and the Dynamo bench.
The Dynamo took their lead into halftime despite LA having 62% of possesion. LA also had 10 shots to Houstonโs 8 and a 0.76 expected goals compared to 0.36 for the Dynamo.
LA brought on their star Mexican, striker Javier Hernandez, in the 55th minute but would soon find themselves in a hole that even Chicharito could not dig them out of. Coco Carrasquilla went down in the box and Chilowicz went to the monitor again for a VAR check in the 62nd minute. Galaxy centerback Martin Caceres, already on a yellow card, went to the monitor as well which is an automatic yellow and a red for the Uruguayan veteran. The Galaxy were down to 10 men and to make matters worse, Chilowicz gave the penalty. Bassi stepped to the spot and made Major League Soccer history, scoring a penalty for the fourth straight match.
Bassi wasnโt done and after 73 minutes he sealed all three points. Down to 10 men, the Galaxy defense was stretched and Corey Baird was in space on the left side of the box. He squared a ball back to the top of the box and Bassi took one touch and was able to smoothly pass into the bottom right corner. Tensions boiled over in stoppage time. First Dynamo captain Hector Herrera clattered his countryman Hernandez and was shown a second yellow and a red. Herrera will miss the Dynamoโs visit to the New York Red Bulls next weekend. As the final whistle was about to blow, Galaxy midfielder Douglas Costa threw Brooklyn Raines to the ground popping off some arguing amongst both teams. Costa was shown a straight red card as the game was ended.
Houstonโs scintillating home form continued with their third win from three at Shell Energy Stadium. The road from will be tested again next week as the Dynamo travel to take on the New York Red Bulls. Houston has lost all three of their road games in 2023 and will look to take the form from tonightโs win to change that.
