Houston Dynamo at Seattle Sounders: Highlights, stats, and quotes
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
The Houston Dynamo fell 1-0 on the road to the Seattle Sounders last night. It was the second loss of the season for Houston against Seattle. In both games, Seattle scored with a man advantage, this time after Micael was sent off.
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 1-0 Houston Dynamo FC
Saturday, July 1, 2023
Venue: Lumen Field - Seattle, Washington
Referee: Rosendo Mendoza
Assistants: Chris Wattam, Meghan Mullen
Fourth Official: Joshua Encarnacion
VAR: Younes Marrakchi
Attendance: 31,840
Weather: 70 degrees, clear skies
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA: Albert Rusnák (Léo Chú) 67’
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY
SEA: Abdoulaye Cissoko (caution; foul) 18’
SEA: Cody Baker (caution; foul) 54’
HOU: Micael (caution; foul) 61’
HOU: Micael (caution and ejection; foul) 62’
HOU: Luis Caicedo (caution; foul) 89’
HOU: Erik Sviatchenko (caution; foul) 90+4’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC: Stefan Frei; Nouhou Tolo, Yeimar Gómez Andrade, Cody Baker (Kelyn Rowe 58’ (Reed Baker-Whiting 69’)), Abdoulaye Cissoko; Obed Vargas, João Paulo; Léo Chú (Dylan Teves 85’), Albert Rusnák, Nicolás Lodeiro; Raúl Ruidíaz (Héber 85’)
Unused Substitutes: Stefan Cleveland, Fredy Montero, Hal Uderitz, Joshua Atencio
Total shots: 12 (Léo Chú and Albert Rusnák tied with 3)
Shots on goal: 5 (Albert Rusnák 2)
Fouls: 14 (Yeimar Gómez Andrade 5)
Offside: 1 (Obed Vargas 1)
Corner kicks: 4
Saves: 2 (Stefan Frei 2)
Houston Dynamo FC: Steve Clark (c); Micael, Erik Sviatchenko, Ethan Bartlow, Franco Escobar; Amine Bassi (Brad Smith 77’), Luis Caicedo, Artur (Thorleifur Úlfarsson 85’); Nelson Quiñónes (Chase Gasper 65’), Aliyu Ibrahim, Corey Baird (Iván Franco 85’)
Unused substitutes: Andrew Tarbell, Griffin Dorsey, Héctor Herrera, Brooklyn Raines, Sebastián Ferreira
Total shots: 7 (Ethan Bartlow 2)
Shots on goal: 2 (Nelson Quiñónes and Thorleifur Úlfarsson tied with 1)
Fouls: 14 (Micael 4)
Offside: 2 (Nelson Quiñónes and Aliyu Ibrahim tied with 1)
Corner kicks: 1
Saves: 4 (Steve Clark 4)
HOUSTON DYNAMO HEAD COACH BEN OLSEN
On the match:
“The guys gave everything for each other tonight and defended in a gutsy way. We were tough to break down. We had a few chances in transition. I didn't think either of the fouls were yellow cards on Mika (DF Micael). Then (MF) João (Paulo) has a two-foot foul right in front of us and takes out our player. I don’t know what to say. You'll see it. I give a lot of credit to our guys. I thought they showed up, and I'm just pissed because they gave so much. It was just really frustrating for everybody in that locker room.”
On players missing the game:
“(DF Daniel Steres) has a little bit of a knock. (MF) Héctor (Herrera) was sick. He had chills, so we put him on the bench and was not good to go. Those came late. That’s also why I'm proud. We had two late scratches in the last 24 hours. There were a lot of little changes that that we had to go through. The guys stepped up. We prepared all week in one way, and there were a lot of quick little changes in the last 24 hours. The guys did great with it. Obviously, the red card changes the game. The second one is probably a foul. But again, you can wait. You don't have to give the yellow card. I don’t know why they rush and have to throw the yellow card out. Then they can't do anything about it.”
On the performances of Chase Gasper and Brad Smith:
“They were fine. (DF) Chase (Gasper) came in and looked the part. It's always hard. It's hard to evaluate when you're playing down a man. They come in, and we're you're in survival mode. It was good for both of them to get minutes, and we'll certainly need to use them going forward. Both of them are working very hard, so it was nice to get them some minutes.”
On Micael’s performance:
“(DF) Micael had a pretty good game. It was a little bit of an unfamiliar spot for him moving out wide, but I thought he played a pretty good game. I feel for him because he's an emotional kid, and he probably thinks he let the team down. But I think the ref let us down.”
HOUSTON DYNAMO FORWARD COREY BAIRD
On his takeaways from the match:
“It’s a tough result. We had a really strong game but going away from home to some of the best teams in the league, you’ve almost got to have a mistake-free game. It’s super unfortunate the way we went down a man. We’ve got to bounce back. That's two losses in a row now. We can't get this habit, so it's a big game next week.”
On the matchup against Nouhou:
“That’s a guy (DF Nouhou Tolo) not a lot of wingers in the league would enjoy going against. Between (DF) Franco (Escobar) and I, we had some miscommunications where I think we really could have actually got at them a lot better than we did. That’s something for him and I, we can work on that relationship. We got into some good two-versus-one spots, and I know I need to be cleaner on the ball there. Despite him being a strong left back, I think we could have got at him bit more than we did.”
On the need to score more goals on the road:
“I don't have anything in particular. I do think we're creating some good chances. We're getting into good spots, so it’s just being cleaner all around, whether that's the pass before the pass or when you get that little bit of time in the box, having that composure to take a deep breath and finish your chance. You could say a number of things. I couldn't put my finger on one specific thing, but going away from home is tough. The energy is against you. There’s 35 to 40,000 people there going against you, playing against a good team with probably one of the better defenses in the league. Chances aren't going to be plentiful against a team like this, but when we do get them, we have got to be a little more clinical.”
On his relationship with Aliyu Ibrahim:
“It’s good. He’s really been thrown in there, and I think he's done a great job. We’re all just starting to understand a bit more about what kind of runs he likes. He's understanding what we're trying to do as a team better. The more games he gets with us, the more training sessions we have – we haven't had a ton of time to truly train in the last month or so. As the season goes on, we’ll be able to really figure out what exactly we want to be as a team. I think that'll help him a lot, and it'll help our offense as well.”
