Dynamo drop second straight road match, 3-0 in New England
(image via Houston Dynamo FC/Twitter)
The Houston Dynamo dropped their second straight road match to open the 2023 season, this time losing to the New England Revolution by a score of 3-0. The home side got a goal in the first half and two in the secondf to see off Ben Olsen’s side and pick up their second win of the season.
The first half was a back and forth encounter that was fairly even for the majority of it. That ended after 42 minutes when the Revs found their break through. Right back Brandon Bye played a nifty one-two to lose Dynamo left back Tate Schmitt on the right wing. Bye whipped in a low cross that forward Bobby Wood was able to re-direct into the path of Dylan Borrero. His shot beat Steve Clark at the near post and gave the hosts a lead heading into the halftime break.
The second half began with some solid play from Houston but it wasn’t long until New England got their second. The Revolution’s right back got their first goal started and it was left back DeJuan Jones who assisted on the second. Carles Gil played a great ball into space and Jones made a great run to lose Griffin Dorsey. He whipped a cross directly in front of goal and Wood was there to thump his shot into the empty net. The two goal deficit had Houston defenders and Clark shaking their heads.
New England put things away with their third goal in the 65th minute. Borrero got free in the box and played a ball across to Bye. The right back cut onto this right foot and sent a shot goalward. The ball deflected off Dynamo midfielder Artur and past Clark to make the game 3-0.
After an encouraging outing in Cincinnati last week, the Dynamo looked dreadul in New England. The defense got burned too easily and too often, the midfield had zero creativity, and the attack was just non-existent. It’s early, yes, but there are going to be concerns developing if this keeps up. And yes, a lot of the fan base already has those concerns and what’s to burn it all down again. The calendar just turned to March so I’ll hold off on that, for now.
There’s a chance for the Dynamo to regroup as the team has a bye next week. It’s not completely back to the drawing board but the week off should give the staff and players time to figure out what went wrong in the first two games and how it can be fixed. After the week off the Dynamo will return to Shell Energy Stadium for the home opener against Austin FC on March 18. With two losses to begin the season, a third to an in-state rival in the home opener can’t happen. We’ll see just how this team responds with their backs against a wall already, just weeks into the 2023 season.
