Houston Dynamo vs Pachuca: Highlights, stats, and quotes
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
The Houston Dynamo moved on to the Leagues Cup Round of 16 after beating Pachuca 5-3 in a penalty shootout. The game ended 0-0 after 90 minutes and the Dynamo made all five of their kicks from the spot to advance. Houston awais the winner of Charlotte FC and Cruz Azul in the next round.
MATCH SUMMARY
Houston Dynamo FC 0 (5) - 0 (3) C.F. Pachuca
Wednesday, August 2, 2023
Venue: Shell Energy Stadium - Houston, Texas
Referee: Edgar Allan Morales Olvera
Assistants: Enrique Martinez Sandoval, Micel Caballero Galicia
Fourth Official: Ismael Rosario López Peñuelas
VAR: Oscar Mejia Garcia
Attendance: 10,431
Weather: 91 degrees, clear skies
SCORING SUMMARY
None
Shootout
HOU: Thorleifur Úlfarsson - MAKE
PAC: Gustavo Cabral - MAKE
HOU: Nelson Quiñónes - MAKE
PAC: Illian Hernández - MAKE
HOU: Héctor Herrera - MAKE
PAC: Érick Sánchez - MAKE
HOU: Griffin Dorsey - MAKE
PAC: Tony Figueroa - SAVED
HOU: Luís Caicedo - MAKE
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY
HOU: Artur (caution; foul) 53’
HOU: Héctor Herrera (caution; foul) 60’
PAC: Miguel Rodriguez (caution; foul) 62’
HOU: Franco Escobar (caution; foul) 63’
PAC: José Castillo (caution; foul) 68’
PAC: Érick Sánchez (caution; foul) 69’
PAC: Gustavo Cabral (caution; foul) 70’
LINEUPS & STATS
Houston Dynamo FC: Steve Clark, Franco Escobar, Micael, Erik Sviatchenko, Griffin Dorsey, Héctor Herrera (C), Artur, Corey Baird (Thorleifur Úlfarsson 82’), Amine Bassi (Luis Caicedo 68’), Adalberto Carrasquilla (Iván Franco 82’), Aliyu Ibrahim (Nelson Quiñónes 45’)
Unused Substitutes: Andrew Tarbell, Xavier Valdez, Brad Smith, Ethan Bartlow, Daniel Steres, Charles Aguste, Mujeeb Murana, Brooklyn Raines
Total shots: 12 (four players tied with 2)
Shots on goal: 2 (Erik Sviatchenko and Corey Baird tied with 1)
Fouls: 11 (Artur 3)
Offside: 0
Corner kicks: 7
Saves: 2 (Steve Clark 2)
C.F. Pachuca: Carlos Moreno, Miguel Rodríguez (Byron Castillo 80’), Sergio Barreto, Gustavo Cabral (C), José Castillo, Bryan González (Marino Hinestroza 66’), Elías Montiel, Érick Sánchez, David Terans (Tony Figeroa 67’), Roberto de la Rosa (Jesús Hernández 80’), Lucas Di Yorio (Illian Hernández 77’)
Unused substitutes: José Eulogio, Carlos Rodas, Jahziel Marchand, Pedro Pedraza, Jorge Berlanga, René López, Alexei Dominguez
Total shots: 15 (David Terans 3)
Shots on goal: 2 (Érick Sánchez and David Terans tied with 1)
Fouls: 9 (Érick Sánchez and José Castillo tied with 2)
Offside: 1 (David Terans 1)
Corner kicks: 8
Saves: 2 (Carlos Moreno 2)
HOUSTON DYNAMO HEAD COACH BEN OLSEN
On the match:
“I'm not sure yet. I'm going to have to go back to see if that was good, bad, ugly, and I think it was a little bit of everything. It became a track meet again. We came into the game not wanting it to be a track meet. At times we weren't that clean. I didn't think our structure offensively was always perfect in the first half. It led to a kind of a back-and-forth game and neither team really had the killer instinct in the final third tonight. Our transition defending was better than it was against Santos (Laguna). We were more aware of the danger when we did lose the ball, so that was good to keep them off the board. Against a team of that quality, that says a lot about the defensive effort that our group gave. We are pleased to move on and have another crack at this tournament.”
On winning another penalty shootout:
“We haven't missed many in the three games. So, it's good. It's a little bit of a coin flip. (GK) Steve (Clark) reads players very well. It’s nice to have a guy like that because you know he's going to grab one.”
On the slow start in the first half and higher pace in the second:
“The stats say it was an even game against arguably one of the best Mexican teams in their league, who won it last year. If we struggled a little bit, maybe it's because of the quality that Pachuca brings. I don't care how many players they put that are new. They're all high quality, and then they brought in quality. The stats show it was a pretty even game against a high-level team. They pressed us early, and we went too long. We weren't brave enough to play through the press at times. Overall, against a team like that you're going to have to weather some periods. They’re so risky. They’ve thrown so many numbers at you up high that you have to do well with the ball or else they're going to come back with real numbers. I would say we defended our box really well.”
On what the team is getting out of the Leagues Cup:
“If you talk to coaches around the league, in this tournament, it was to get out of the group. You do not want three weeks in the summer to train. It's a hard to juggle, emotionally and physically. You would be scrambling for games. But you also do need a little break, so hopefully we don't have that for a while. Hopefully we can keep going. It is nice to get through. Now to have a knockout game, similar to a knockout game that we're going to have, it's good preparation in that way for the U.S. Open Cup match coming up. This is positive, and the fact that we're home. That's a little bit fortunate, but we'll take it, and it’ll be nice to play here. We don't have to do the travel part.”
HOUSTON DYNAMO MIDFIELDER ARTUR
On who Houston faces next:
“I don’t think we have a preference. We shouldn’t have. Every game is difficult. We just saw how tough it is today in this tournament. We’ve just got to rest now. It was a big win. We need to see what we need to do better and be ready for Monday.”
On Pachuca’s high pressing style:
“You don’t see it with every team in MLS. It was very difficult to break them down. Of course, we should have done better. There were some moments where we could have done better. We’ve got to look at the film and do better this time.”
On the potential to win three trophies this year:
“I think it’s important. That’s what we’ve been fighting for the whole year. We need to fight for the MLS playoffs, and it’s important to be fighting for trophies. That’s what we’re here for, and we’re going to keep fighting.”
HOUSTON DYNAMO GOALKEEPER STEVE CLARK
On the match:
“I think that we had our fair share of chances, as did they. It was a back-and-forth game, but we're happy to win.”
On the year the Dynamo are having:
“We're alive in three competitions. We have the U.S. Open Cup here. In the United States, we have the Leagues Cup and obviously the league play, so we're building something slowly. It was an exciting night, Pachuca is a great team. I was honored to play against them. It was fun.”
On saving the penalty kick:
“It's a fun moment to kind of put us ahead and then [Luis] to finish the game off. It was wonderful.”
HOUSTON DYNAMO DEFENDER GRIFFIN DORSEY
On the match:
“We have a lot to learn, but a win is a win and we’re moving on. We still must look at it. I think right now we're just excited about the win and tomorrow we'll get back at figuring it out.”
On takeaways from the shutout:
“When you don't give up a goal, I would say it's pretty solid defensive game. That's the way we look at it now and learn the things we must learn going into the next game.”
On Steve Clark:
“I got nothing but praise for Steve Clark. He is an absolutely amazing goalkeeper and it gives me chills to think about it. That was a great stop. He’s just consistent.”
HOUSTON DYNAMO FORWARD COREY BAIRD
On who the Dynamo want to face in the next round:
“It'd be cool to play Mexican teams. It's a unique experience, different league, different play styles. That's what this tournament's about two leagues going at it. I've enjoyed the two games played against them.”
On differences between Liga MX and MLS teams:
“There's sometimes more space because of how aggressive they are and it's about us trying to be clean in those times where we have that space and being able to exploit it. They do a good job not giving you time so you're not able to get comfortable on the ball. When we can get comfortable, I think there's times that we have more time, space to really pick up that final pass, final cross shot or whatever it is.”
