Dynamo win penalty shootout to stay alive in Leagues Cup
(image via Rudy Segura)
The Houston Dynamo knew they needed to come out strong in Tuesday night’s match against Santos Laguna at Shell Energy Stadium. A win would put Houston through to the next round of the Leagues Cup. A loss would send them home for nearly a month. The Dynamo jumped out to a two-goal lead in the first half, looking on their way to the Round of 32. It all fell apart and the game had to go to a penalty shootout. The Dynamo made all five of their kicks this time to live another day.
Houston got off to a flying start, opening the scoring after just 14 minutes. Coco Carrasquill received the ball near the top of the box and turned toward goal. The ball, intentional or not, found its way to Corey Baird who got a shot off and beat Santos Laguna goalkeeper Gibran Lajud to his left.
The Dynamo doubled their advantage in the 26th minute with a brilliant strike from their right back. Griffin Dorsey ran into the space on the right side of the field toward the edge of the box. Dorsey but onto his left as he approached the top of the box and unleashed a curler, with pace, to beat Lajud at the far post. It was a stunning effort from a player who is getting more minutes and trying to take over the right back spot for good.
Captain Hector Herrera nearly put the game to bed in the 38th minute with a third goal for the Dynamo. Amine Bassi picked out the diagonal run of Herrera into the box and the Mexican chipped the ball up and over Lajud. The ball looked bound for the back of the net but was cleared off the line by a retreating defender. A third goal there really would have been huge, especially because of what was still to come.
Santos found their lifeline as half time approached. A cross into the box was deflected by the Dynamo defense but it popped up nicely to striker Harold Preciado. The Colombian swiveled and struck the ball into the corner to Steve Clark’s right, making the score 2-1 in the 45th minute.
Houston nearly restored their two goal advantage in the 57th minute. Dorsey stood a ball up in front of goal for Aliyu Ibrahim to get on the end of. The Nigerian met it well with his head and beat the goalkeepr Lajub, but somehow deflected off the face of a defender and away from goal. Santos would make the Dynamo pay just minutes later.
Preciado was the man to watch for Santos coming into this match and he was the man who would find their equalizer. A foul in the box by Dynamo defender Micael was originally waved off with the offside flag up. VAR stepped in and found the Santos attacker to be onside, therefore making the foul call validand awarding a penalty kick to the visitors. Preciado beat a frozen Clark from the spot and the game was tied 2-2 in the 62nd minute.
With the game tied 2-2 at the end of 90 minutes, the teams went to the penalty spot. The Dynamo needed the extra point to keep hopes alive of advancing. They did just that with all five shooters, Amine Bassi, Thor Ulfarsson, Ivan Franco, Brad Smith, and Luis Caicedo scoring. Santos’ final taker, Raul Lopez sent his shot into the seats to end the shootout and give Houston the valuable second point.
The Dynamo now have three points from two games. Their easiest way of advancing will be for Orlando to beat Santos on Saturday. That would give Orlando five points and the group win. The Dynamo would have three points and Santos just the one. If Santos win, that would also put the Dynamo into the next round with Orlando only having two points and the Dynamo having three, and Santos four. If the game goes to penalty kicks, that gets more complicated and we’ll break those scenarios down more this week. Orlando and Santos will kick off Saturday night, in Orlando, at 6:30 PM CT.
