Houston Dynamo vs Minnesota United: Highlights, stats, and quotes
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
The Houston Dynamo were beaten at home for just the second time in 2023, losing 3-0 to Minnesota United Wednesday night. Houston is back in action this weekend with a trip to Colorado to take on the Rapids.
MATCH SUMMARY
Houston Dynamo FC 0-3 Minnesota United FC
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
Venue: Shell Energy Stadium - Houston, Texas
Referee: Marcos DeOliveira
Assistants: Claudiu Badea, Eduardo Jeff
Fourth Official: Matthew Corrigan
VAR: Kevin Stott
Attendance: 11,855
Weather: 90 degrees, mostly sunny
SCORING SUMMARY
MIN: Bongokuhle Hlongwane (unassisted) 15’
MIN: Teemu Pukki (Emanuel Reynoso) 20’
MIN: Ismael Tajouri-Shradi (unassisted) 87’
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY
HOU: Micael (caution; foul) 68’
HOU: Franco Escobar (caution; foul) 90+1’
LINEUPS & STATS
Houston Dynamo FC: Steve Clark; Daniel Steres (Chase Gasper 73’), Micael, Erik Sviatchenko (Ethan Bartlow 89’), Franco Escobar; Héctor Herrera, Artur (Luís Caicedo 85’), Amine Bassi; Nelson Quiñónes (Iván Franco 46’), Corey Baird (Thorleifur Úlfarsson 46’), Aliyu Ibrahim
Unused Substitutes: Xavier Valdez, Brad Smith, Griffin Dorsey, Brooklyn Raines
Total shots: 24 (Erik Sviatchenko and Aliyu Ibrahim tied with 4)
Shots on goal: 6 (Aliyu Ibrahim 2)
Fouls: 9 (Artur 2)
Offside: 2 (Franco Escobar and Aliyu Ibrahim tied with 1)
Corner kicks: 9
Saves: 1 (Steve Clark 1)
Minnesota United FC: Dayne St. Clair; Zarek Valentin, Miguel Tapias (Bakaye Dibassy 70’), Michael Boxall, DJ Taylor; Kervin Arriaga, Hassani Dotson; Joseph Rosales (Ismael Tajouri-Shradi 60’), Emanuel Reynoso (Wil Trapp 60’), Bongokuhle Hlongwane; Teemu Pukki (Ménder García 60’)
Unused substitutes: Clint Irwin, Eric Dick, Devin Padelford, Brent Kallman, Cameron Dunbar
Total shots: 8 (Hassani Dotson 3)
Shots on goal: 4 (Bonhokuhle Hlongwane 2)
Fouls: 12 (Bongokuhle Hlongwane 3)
Offside: 0
Corner kicks: 1
Saves: 6 (Dayne St. Clair 6)
HOUSTON DYNAMO HEAD COACH BEN OLSEN
On the missing piece in the match:
“The last two games have had similar themes. We’ve had some good stuff, some good soccer and some good actions, but we’re giving up soft goals and early goals. Now you're chasing the game. The last two games, we've just turned down our concentration and our hunger a little bit. Then we were able to respond. After we get punched in the face, it's easy to respond and react and play desperate, but the good teams at home don't give up early goals and have to chase the game. There were enough looks out there. We got chances, and we had plenty of shots that didn't go our way. In some of the offensive moments, we weren't clean enough for the final action and some of the finishing wasn't great. There’s enough there to score goals. Again, there’s just a little lack of hunger right now. A little lack of concentration in key moments. There were a lot of good performances, but also a few poor performances. You're not going to win games at this stage in the game if everybody is not showing up and playing at the level they can. It's a little tough stretch for us. I've been through a lot of seasons, and I’ve never had a season where you don't go through a tough stretch, so we have to make sure that this is our tough stretch. We correct it and move it in the right direction. We have a quick turnaround and a tough place to go, in Colorado. It’s nice to get back on the horse very quickly and see what we can grab in Colorado.”
On giving up two goals in a five-minute span:
“It impacted everything. You give up two goals, and you chase the game the entire time. On a day that our finishing boots weren’t on, it’s tough. Again, they were poor goals. Both fixable. They're both just fairly routine, active defending. I think one came off a throw-in where we were soft in the box. They have been amateur goals we've been giving up over the last two games. That's not like us. We need to get back to some of the details of defending and getting that concentration, urgency, hunger and battling. Minnesota is also a good team. They're much better. (MF Emanuel) Reynoso changes them, and they brought a Premier League striker in (FW Teemu Pukki), and you can tell his quality. When he gets chances, he's not going to miss. They've upgraded, and they are physical. Once we were chasing the game, they brought in some big boys. They held the fort well, and that was the story of the night. We gave up two quick ones and were chasing the game.”
HOUSTON DYNAMO MIDFIELDER ARTUR
On the result:
“We didn’t do well enough. We were not concentrated in crucial moments and that cost us. We need to come back to how we were before at home with clean sheets, being concentrated and hard to score on. We need to put some balls in the net on the other side. We just need to do better. It's not good enough.”
On having one more MLS match to reset before Leagues Cup play:
“We need to do it. We can't wait for the next game. We need to focus on getting the three points, and now it's the time to show up. We need to show up and have personality to change things around.”
On the talk amongst the team:
“We are all professionals. Everybody knows that we need to do better. Nobody likes to lose, so we just have to show up now. Everybody has that mindset. Work harder but also smarter. Be smart and turn things around.”
