Houston Dynamo vs Minnesota United: Highlights, stats, and quotes
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
The Houston Dynamo advanced to the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup quarterfinals with a dominant 4-0 win over Minnesota United Tuesday night at Shell Energy Stadium. Corey Baird scored a hat trick and Ibrahim Aliyu scored his first for the Dynamo in what turned out to be an easy win against a 10 man Minnesota side.
MATCH SUMMARY
Houston Dynamo FC 4 – 0 Minnesota United FC
Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Venue: Shell Energy Stadium - Houston, Texas
Referee: Ramy Touchan
Assistants: Jeremy Kieso, Albert Escovar
Fourth Official: Lorenzo Hernandez
Attendance: 2,947
Weather: 88 degrees, partly cloudy
SCORING SUMMARY
HOU: Corey Baird (penalty kick) 33’
HOU: Corey Baird (Amine Bassi) 68’
HOU: Aliyu Ibrahim (Corey Baird) 79’
HOU: Corey Baird (Aliyu Ibrahim) 89’
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY
MIN: Kervin Arriaga (caution; foul) 30’
MIN: Kervin Arriaga (second caution, ejection; foul) 58’
MIN: Michael Boxall (caution; foul) 67’
HOU: Luis Caicedo (caution; foul) 82’
LINEUPS & STATS
Houston Dynamo FC: Andrew Tarbell; Talen Maples, Erik Sviatchenko (Ethan Bartlow 46’), Mujeeb Murana, Brad Smith; Brooklyn Raines (Héctor Herrera 62’), Nelson Quiñónes (Griffin Dorsey 83’), Luís Caicedo; Amine Bassi (Iván Franco 73’), Corey Baird, Thorleifur Úlfarsson (Aliyu Ibrahim 62’)
Unused Substitutes: Steve Clark, Franco Escobar
Total shots: 16 (Corey Baird 5)
Shots on goal: 9 (Corey Baird 4)
Fouls: 13 (Brad Smith and Luis Caicedo tied with 2)
Offside: 4 (Nelson Quiñónes 2)
Corner kicks: 3
Saves: 3 (Andrew Tarbell 3)
Minnesota United FC: Clint Irwin; Zarek Valentin, Brent Kallman, Michael Boxall, DJ Taylor (Kemar Lawrence 46’); Wil Trapp (Hassani Dotson 46’), Kervin Arriaga; Joseph Rosales, Bongokuhle Hlongwane (Cameron Dunbar 46’), Jeong Sang-Bin (Franco Fragapane 69’); Ménder García (Luis Amarilla 60’)
Unused substitutes: Dayne St. Clair, Miguel Tapias
Total shots: 4 (four players tied with 1)
Shots on goal: 3 (three players tied with 3)
Fouls: 15 (Joseph Rosales 4)
Offside: 1 (Ménder García 1)
Corner kicks: 2
Saves: 5 (Clint Irwin 5)
HOUSTON DYNAMO HEAD COACH BEN OLSEN
On selecting the roster for the game:
"It's a little bit of a puzzle. They're dealing with the same thing and they actually traveled from Portland. So, they had a little tougher ride than we did. You saw that at times with them - the fatigue especially when they were down a man, it was a lot of work for them. It was next man up in a lot of ways and some of our high-energy guys are putting a lot of minutes in. Adalberto “Coco” (Carrasquilla) was one of these guys. You got to be careful and find the balance. Today I think we struck a pretty good balance of which group could go out there and compete, do well and also rest guys and make sure we're fresh and ready to go for Austin."
On a chance to see something different:
"I prefer playing up a man than down a man. We've been doing the other way quite a bit, as you said the last two weeks. It was nice to be on the other end. It's still work, you still have 10 players out there and it's still about moving the ball and sticking to your shape and the act of defending. Making sure you're not giving up anything in transition. Just from a discipline standpoint, we did a good job of breaking them down up a man and again the right chances and being patient but urgent. A great night for us because we touched the net. And it's been such a struggle for us to score goals. Sometimes just hitting the net, even though the circumstances of the game, that doesn't matter, we still took advantage of it and scored a bunch of goals and got some forwards on the board. A new forward coming in and scoring. So all that stuff was a bonus."
On Luis Caicedo:
"We knew what he brought to the team, right, he brings fire, he brings a hunger and a physicality in that position. We also think he has more to give when it comes to playing forward and starting attacks, playing through lines, and today, and I think over the last, you know, couple of weeks, he's really turned the corner and understanding where the next guy is higher up the field and trusting himself to get not just connect to sideways pass and backward, but to play it forward and start an attack. And he's been great, man. He's just such a lovely guy and such a team guy. It's been nice for him to get these minutes. And I think he's a guy you look at in the lineup and you want to go to battle with."
On the debut of Erik Sviatchenko:
"The way he reads the game, his voice, leadership, decision-making ability. To string passes through lines, understanding the tempo, and what we need. He knows what he's doing out there. They were a handful and they put out a really good team out there from the get-go. They didn't rest that many guys. Some of the attackers that we faced a week ago, were out there and they're a handful. So that was a good test for him to get a taste of MLS soccer."
HOUSTON DYNAMO DEFENDER ERIK SVIATCHENKO
On the match:
"I had butterflies in my stomach. Even though I've played more than 400 games in my career, this felt like that special moment you have been waiting for a long time. It's been a tough first two months. Not that I wish to wait that long for my debut. But sometimes things come around. And I've been through some things in this beginning phase. Hopefully, the beginning will just be a kind of small thing in the sense of the long term. So, I'm just happy to be able to contribute with 45 minutes first. And now hopefully, I can look ahead for more minutes."
On takeaways from the victory:
"Young guys came in and they did so great. It was a pleasure playing with Talen (Maples), he's communicative. In this role, this is what it's all about when you step into the first team. You show those qualities. Brooklyn (Raines) as well in the sentiment, got some good minutes. And even though he came out and said, I want to do more, I want to do more, you know, it's a good sense that we have these boys that really want to kick on. So in general, happy and Corey (Baird) got his first-ever hat trick. In that sense, it was amazing."
On his impressions of the team:
"Positive. It was good that I waited a little bit and got to learn about the boys in the squad and how we play. I watched some games before today. That helps. We are on a really, really good path, we come together, and we look more and more solid. We will still improve and we still want to get better at a lot of things. At this point in the tournament, it's just about one thing – winning but still improving.”
HOUSTON DYNAMO DEFENDER BRAD SMITH
On his 90-minute shift:
"Just coming back up and getting little amounts of minutes, I haven’t been feeling like myself and showing my true self, which has been frustrating. But tonight, it was really good to get a good amount of minutes and start to get more comfortable and get my feeling back in myself. It was a great performance by the team, and I think we needed to have a performance like that where we scored a bunch of goals and got the win. We’re going through the next round, which is important for everyone. It’s another game closer to the final, which is always important.”
On head coach Ben Olsen’s message after the match:
"He was just pleased with the performance. It was a mature performance. They go down a man, and we’ve still got to go and score goals to finish the game off because 1-0 is a dangerous scoreline. I’m happy for the guys, and it’s a great team performance. Mature and onto the next round.”
On playing in the US Open Cup:
"This is the first time I've actually played in the Cup. I've been in the league for four-and-a-half years, and I've never actually played in the Cup. I don't know how I've always missed it. It's exciting. You know you can play five games and get to a final. It’s important for us, and we want more games. We’ve got a lot of guys that need minutes and want minutes and are fighting for places, so it's important to have those games. We’re only two games away now from a final, so we’ve got to keep pushing, and it gets really important at this stage."
