Houston Dynamo vs Real Salt Lake: Highligts, stats, and quotes
(image via Ricky Vega)
The Houston Dynamo erupted for four goals to take down Real Salt Lake 4-1 at Shell Energy Stadium Saturday night. Amine Bassi, Griffin Dorsey, Sebastian Kowalczyk, and Ezequiel Ponce scored for Houston but captain Hector Herrera had to leave the match with a hamstring injury.
MATCH SUMMARY
Houston Dynamo FC 4-1 Real Salt Lake
Saturday, September 14, 2024
Venue: Shell Energy Stadium - Houston, Texas
Referee: Jon Freemon
Assistants: Chris Wattam, Ian McKay
Fourth Official: Jair Marrufo
VAR: Daniel Radford
Attendance: 15,862
Weather: 90 degrees, partly cloudy
SCORING SUMMARY
HOU: Amine Bassi (unassisted) 27’
HOU: Griffin Dorsey (Héctor Herrera) 45+3’
RSL: Erik Sviatchenko (own goal) 49’
HOU: Sebastian Kowalczyk (Coco Carrasquilla) 75’
HOU: Ezequiel Ponce (Latif Blessing) 80’
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY
HOU: Daniel Steres (caution; foul) 24’
RSL: Cristian Arango (caution; foul) 32’
HOU: Ezequiel Ponce (caution; foul) 38’
RSL: Alexandros Katranis (caution; foul) 63’
RSL: Justen Glad (caution; dissent) 90+4’
LINEUPS & STATS
Houston Dynamo FC: Steve Clark; Daniel Steres, Micael, Erik Sviatchenko, Griffin Dorsey, Artur (Brooklyn Raines 88’); Héctor Herrera (C) (Sebastian Kowalczyk 45+6’), Ibrahim Aliyu (Latif Blessing 68’), Amine Bassi (Sebastian Ferriera 88’); Adalberto Carrasquilla, Ezequiel Ponce (McKinze Gaines 88’)
Unused Substitutes: Brad Smith, Ethan Bartlow, Andrew Tarbell, Tate Schmitt
Total shots: 16 (Ezequiel Ponce 4)
Shots on goal: 8 (Ezequiel Ponce 3)
Fouls: 12 (four players tied with 2)
Offside: 2 (Aliyu Ibrahim 2)
Corner kicks: 4
Saves: 6 (Steve Clark 6)
Real Salt Lake: Gavin Beavers; Alexandros Katranis (Andrew Brody 64’), Philip Quinton, Justen Glad, Javain Brown (Bode Hidalgo 46’), Braian Ojeda; Emeka Eneli (Noel Caliskan 76’), Diego Luna (Dominik Marczuk 76’), Diogo Gonçalves; Lachlan Brook (Anderson Julio 63’), Cristian Arango (C)
Unused substitutes: Brayan Vera, Maikel Chang, Zac MacMath, Matt Crooks
Total shots: 15 (Lachlan Brook and Cristian Arango tied with 2)
Shots on goal: 6 (Lachlan Brook 3)
Fouls: 7 (Braian Ojeda and Cristian Arango tied with 2)
Offside: 1 (Dominik Marczuk 1)
Corner kicks: 3
Saves: 4 (Gavin Beavers 4)
HOUSTON DYNAMO HEAD COACH BEN OLSEN
On the result:
“It's three points at home, and that's super important for us right now as a team and for our fans. We play a lot of good teams down the stretch this season, and it’s a quick turnaround with Vancouver coming here on Wednesday. It wasn’t our greatest soccer today, and the heat hit both teams, but overall, I am thrilled for the guys that we were able to put up some goals and send the fans home happy.”
On forward Ezequiel Ponce:
“I’ve spoken about how it takes some players who move here from abroad time to adjust, but Ponce has been all over Europe, so the transition has been very quick for him. Ponce is insatiable when it comes to information. He’s an open and selfless player, and he does a lot of work without the ball with a defensive pressure that is incredible. That hard work is a staple for us and for every player on the team. He has done a good job of that, and we just have to continue scoring more goals.”
HOUSTON DYNAMO FORWARD EZEQUIEL PONCE (TRANSLATED FROM SPANISH)
On the result:
“I’m very happy with the three points against a rival that is above us in the table. We showed that we can compete at the level of a top team and will continue to fight for a spot at the top of the table. Now we have to fix little details this week, and we are going to fight because we want to make it as far as possible this season.”
On scoring a goal at home:
“I have scored one here before, but it is always beautiful to do it at home. It’s nice to see our supporters and the people around us happy. I believe we scored some great goals tonight, and it was an important result for us to demonstrate what we can do against a good rival.”
On his role on the team:
“The coaching staff is asking me to play in a way that is different than what I’ve done in the past, but I am happy to do it. It’s what gives us these kinds of results, and we believe in the way our coach plans out the games.”
