Houston Dynamo at Vancouver Whitecaps: Highlights, stats, and quotes
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
The Houston Dynamo lost 6-2 to the Vancouver Whitecaps Wednesday night. Houston conceded in the first minute, then took a 2-1 lead, before conceding five unanswered goals.
MATCH SUMMARY
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 6 – 2 Houston Dynamo FC
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
Venue: BC Place - Vancouver, British Columbia
Referee: Mark Allatin
Assistants: Logan Brown, Mike Rottersman
Fourth Official: Alain Ruch
VAR: Kevin Stott
Attendance: 13,222
Weather: 63 degrees, sunny
SCORING SUMMARY
VAN: Pedro Vite (Brian White) 1’
HOU: Corey Baird (Adalberto Carrasquilla) 8’
HOU: Amine Bassi (Daniel Steres) 16’
VAN: Julian Gressel (Luis Martins) 18’
VAN: Brian White (unassisted) 46’
VAN: Julian Gressel (unassisted) 59’
VAN: Sebastian Berhalter (unassisted) 88’
VAN: Ryan Gauld (Sebastian Berhalter) 90+5’
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY
VAN: Julian Gressel (caution; foul) 41’
HOU: Micael (caution; foul) 66’
HOU: Nelson Quiñónes (ejection; foul) 69’
HOU: Adalberto Carrasquilla (caution; dissent) 69’
VAN: Mathias Laborda (caution; dissent) 70’
VAN: Sergio Córdova (caution; foul) 79’
HOU: Steve Clark (caution; dissent) 84’
LINEUPS & STATS
Vancouver Whitecaps FC: Yohei Takaoka; Luís Martins, Tristan Blackmon, Mathías Laborda, Javain Brown (Ranko Veselinovic 46’); Alessandro Schöpf (Sebastian Berhalter 63’), Andrés Cubas, Julian Gressel (Russell Teibert 72’); Ryan Gauld, Pedro Vite (Déiber Caicedo 79’); Brian White (Sergio Córdova 72’)
Unused Substitutes: Isaac Boehmer, Karifa Yao, Ryan Raposo, Simon Becher
Total shots: 16 (Ryan Gauld 5)
Shots on goal: 7 (Julian Gressel and Ryan Gauld tied with 2)
Fouls: 12 (Julian Gressel 3)
Offside: 3 (Brian White 2)
Corner kicks: 3
Saves: 5 (Yohei Takaoka 5)
Houston Dynamo FC: Steve Clark; Micael, Ethan Bartlow, Daniel Steres (Erik Sviatchenko 79’), Franco Escobar, Héctor Herrera (c) (Iván Franco 89’), Artur (Luís Caicedo 79’), Adalberto Carrasquilla; Corey Baird (Nelson Quiñónes 63’), Aliyu Ibrahim (Thorleifur Úlfarsson 63’), Amine Bassi
Unused substitutes: Andrew Tarbell, Sebastián Ferreira, Chase Gasper, Brooklyn Raines
Total shots: 13 (Aliyu Ibrahim 4)
Shots on goal: 7 (Aliyu Ibrahim 3)
Fouls: 7 (Adalberto Carrasquilla and Luis Caicedo tied with 2)
Offside: 1 (Aliyu Ibrahim 1)
Corner kicks: 2
Saves: 1 (Steve Clark 1)
HOUSTON DYNAMO HEAD COACH BEN OLSEN
On the game:
“It’s emotional, and that’s okay. It’s okay for us to have an emotional chat in the locker room afterwards. We were naïve. I don’t think everybody showed up. The prep was good. We understood what they were going to look like and how they were going to be successful. We just didn’t have enough men on the field. Again, naïve and the physicality. They won so many duels. The forwards, what they did to our center backs, you’re not going to win a game if that’s the case. We fight back and get in 2-2 at halftime. It could have been three or 4-2 at halftime to us, so the first half, pretty good. We started the game giving up a goal in 30 seconds, and then we battled back to 2-2 on the road. It was kind of a wild half. Then you start the second half, and you give up a goal in 30 seconds again the same way you gave it up in the first half in the same way we prepared for in what they do well. That part is just unacceptable. We have to take this on the chin and try to regroup. It’s one loss, so I'm not worried about the score necessarily. It's a loss on the road. I'm concerned that we didn't show up in the way we needed to for this game. We're not good enough yet to not have players show up and give everything and to have their bellies empty and not be hungrier than the team we're playing against. That was concerning tonight. So, maybe we're still thinking about the Austin win. But saying that, it's a chance to respond. We have a quick turnaround. We’re going cross-country, which is not always easy. Now we go to St. Louis for another tough place to play in a tough league. Hopefully it gives us a chance to respond and maybe learn a hard lesson of what makes us good and when we get ourselves in trouble.”
On being more open in attack:
“It’s natural. You eat one early, now we have to go and now we're chasing the game. Then we get two back, and then we give up kind of another soft goal and we just weren't dialed in enough in the key moments. We did create a lot of chances. The first half, we hit bar and (FW) (Aliyu) Ibrahim has two or three really good looks. Again, could have been 4-2 at halftime to us. There was a lot of good, and there's a lot of good offensive stuff, but you have to make sure you're not exposed. I thought too many times we left ourselves exposed. We lost a lot of individual duels. They had a little bit more pace to the second balls, and we didn't defend very well. Then the red card it’s 4-2. We could still make something out of it, and then you get a red card and chasing a game down to 10 men. That’s never a lot of fun. A naïve play from (MF) Nelson (Quiñónes). He’s young, so he'll learn from that. But we’ve had too many reds this year, and we have to find the edge of that line. Too many times we've gone over.”
HOUSTON DYNAMO MIDFIELDER HECTOR HERRERA (TRANSLATED FROM SPANISH)
On the result:
“Difficult, difficult to explain a what happened in the game. Here is a short summary, we were two teams during the game. A team during the first half, that despite conceding a quick goal, reacted, we settled in well, we were in a good position. Creating opportunities in which we could have scored more goals. In the second half, we were totally another team. We make the same mistake that we made on the first goal, but now in the second half. Then we settled in. We were more disorganized and desperate in wanting to respond quickly when there was a lot of time left. We didn't have that patience, that tranquility and that experience of being able to play our game like we did in the first half.”
On the loss:
“The important thing is how we respond. It is true that it is difficult to lose like this and that it hurts a lot. We have today, the rest of the evening to think, to self-reflect on what we did not do well and each one has to make that self-criticism. Tomorrow, we already have to get up with our heads held high and with the mentality of recovering, keep working because we have an important game on Saturday. Those are the things that soccer gives you, in a few days you have another game and it gives you that opportunity to respond. We have little time to dwell on this. You have to reflect carefully and continue together, which in the end I think is the most important thing. When you win, everything is great and we all want to celebrate, but when you lose, you also have to navigate that together. You have to be together and not look to pass the blame. It is a good opportunity to be closer than ever."
