Houston Dynamo vs Real Salt Lake - MLS Cup Playoffs: Highlights, stats, and quotes
(image via Aldo Canale)
The Houston Dynamo opened postseason play with a 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake at Shell Energy Stadium Sunday night. Houston leads the best-of-three series 1-0 and will look to close out RSL next Monday in Utah.
MATCH SUMMARY
Houston Dynamo FC 2 - 1 Real Salt Lake
Sunday, October 29, 2023
Venue: Shell Energy Stadium - Houston, Texas
Referee: Guido Gonzales
Assistants: Jeremy Kieso, Felisha Marsical
Fourth Official: Alex Chilowicz
VAR: Drew Fischer
Attendance: 17,508
Weather: 81 degrees, partly cloudy
SCORING SUMMARY
HOU: Héctor Herrera (Adalberto Carrasquilla) 22’
RSL: Diego Luna (Anderson Julio) 54’
HOU: Amine Bassi (unassisted) 79’
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY
RSL: Bryan Oviedo (caution; foul) 44’
RSL: Anderson Julio (caution; foul) 82’
HOU: Franco Escobar (caution; foul) 90+5’
HOU: Adalberto Carrasquilla (caution; foul) 90+7’
LINEUPS & STATS
Houston Dynamo FC: Steve Clark; Franco Escobar, Micael, Erik Sviatchenko, Griffin Dorsey; Artur, Héctor Herrera, Adalberto Carrasquilla; Nelson Quiñónes (Brad Smith 87’), Corey Baird (Aliyu Ibrahim 90+4’), Amine Bassi (Luís Caicedo 87’)
Unused Substitutes: Daniel Steres, Iván Franco, Andrew Tarbell, Teenage Hadebe, Sebastian Kowalczyk, Thorleifur Úlfarsson
Total shots: 23 (Héctor Herrera 8)
Shots on goal: 8 (five players tied with 1)
Fouls: 11 (Amine Bassi 4)
Offside: 0
Corner kicks: 9
Saves: 1 (Steve Clark 1)
Real Salt Lake: Zac MacMath ©; Bryan Oviedo, Brayan Vera, Bode Hidalgo (Kevon Lambert 51’), Maikel Chang (Andrés Gómez 46’); Braian Ojeda, Diego Luna, Emeka Eneli (Danny Musovski 86’); Andrew Brody (Jasper Löffelsend 86’), Jefferson Savarino, Rubio Rubín (Anderson Julio 46’)
Unused substitutes: Damir Kreilach, Scott Caldwell, Nelson Palacio, Gavin Beavers
Total shots: 7 (Diego Luna and Jefferson Savarino tied with 2)
Shots on goal: 2 (Diego Luna and Andrés Gómez tied with 1)
Fouls: 11 (Bryan Oviedo and Anderson Julio tied with 3)
Offside: 1 (Andrés Gómez 1)
Corner kicks: 1
Saves: 5 (Marko Ilic 5)
HOUSTON DYNAMO HEAD COACH BEN OLSEN
On the game:
“I have been doing this long enough and it is very difficult to win playoff games. You see why because you're going against opponents that are experienced. These are what playoff games look like. It wasn't our greatest soccer, and a part of that is the opponent. They did a really good job of taking the crowd out of it and putting the correct numbers in spots to frustrate us. Their transition play was very dangerous throughout the night. It was a really good game from them, but in the end, it was a better game for us.”
On the coaching staff’s role:
“My staff is critical in everything we do. They've been incredible. I give a lot of responsibility to my assistants. They've been a huge part in the success we've had this year. They get a lot of credit. Aurélien Collin, he's a new coach. He speaks four different languages and does a lot of work on the defensive side of the ball. Brendan Burke, Adin (Osmanbasic), who came from the Dynamo Academy. Tim Hanley, the goalkeeper coach, he has more rings than all of us. He’s a winner. We can’t thank our sports science team enough. You can't have success if you're constantly getting muscle or soft tissue injuries.”
On his emotional approach to the game:
“I always rely on players. There are enough players on this roster that have MLS Cup rings and championship-winning experience. They don’t need much of a pep talk for this next game. They understand how good Salt Lake is, how difficult they are to play against and how difficult this game is going to be on the road. They also have confidence in themselves. We've been doing okay on the road over the last couple of months, and we'll take that confidence into this game in Utah.”
HOUSTON DYNAMO MIDFIELDER ARTUR
On the result:
“It was an important victory tonight against a good team. Most of the time, we did a better job of managing the pace of the game. We had some moments where we had to adjust, but overall, it was a very important win.”
On the importance of the win:
“It's huge. It’s the playoffs. It doesn't matter how you win. What’s important is that we won. Besides that, I think we played a good game against a good team. The first step is done. Our first objective was to win the first game and now we need to try to win the second game, so we don't have to play the third game. It's now about focusing on what we need to fix and keep doing what we do well. We’ll go to the second game and try to get another win on the road.”
