Houston Dynamo vs Sporting Kansas City: Highlights, stats, and quotes
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
The Houston Dynamo advanced to the Round of 16 in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup with a 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City. Thor Ulfarsson scored early and the Dynamo had to play a large portion of the match with 10 men, but Houston was able to get the win and advance to the next round.
MATCH SUMMARY
Houston Dynamo FC 1 – 0 Sporting Kansas City
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Venue: Shell Energy Stadium - Houston, Texas
Referee: Sergii Demianchuk
Assistants: Jennifer Garner, Jeffrey Greeson
Fourth Official: Olvin Oliva
Attendance: 5,094
Weather: 80 degrees, scattered showers
SCORING SUMMARY
HOU: Thor Ulfarsson (unassisted) 12’
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY
SKC: Roger Espinoza (caution; foul) 10’
HOU: Chase Gasper (ejection; foul) 35’
HOU: Griffin Dorsey (caution; foul) 87’
SKC: Daniel Salloi (caution; foul) 90+3’
LINEUPS & STATS
Houston Dynamo FC: Andrew Tarbell (c); Brad Smith (Djevencio Van der Kust 65’), Chase Gasper, Ethan Bartlow (Micael 45’), Mujeeb Murana; Griffin Dorsey, Brooklyn Raines (Charles Auguste 85’), Luis Caicedo, Nelson Quinones (Aliyu Ibrahim 75’); Thor Ulfarsson (Talen Maples 85’), Sebas Ferreira
Unused Substitutes: Steve Clark, Diego Gonzalez
Total shots: 2 (Thor Ulfarsson and Nelson Quinones tied with 1)
Shots on goal: 1 (Thor Ulfarsson 1)
Fouls: 12 (Luis Caicedo 3)
Offside: 1 (Sebas Ferreira 1)
Corner kicks: 2
Saves: 4 (Andrew Tarbell 4)
Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Graham Zusi, Nemanja Radoja, Gadi Kinda (Ethan Bryant 45’), Robert Castellanos (Robert Voloder 78’); Roger Espinoza (c), Khiry Shelton (Remi Walter 60’), Felipe Hernández (Jake Davis 78’); Chris Rindov, Stephen Afrifa (Daniel Salloi 45’), Marinos Tzionis
Unused substitutes: Kendall McIntosh, Sebastian Cruz
Total shots: 17 (Chris Rindov and Daniel Salloi tied with 3)
Shots on goal: 4 (four players tied with 1)
Fouls: 13 (five players tied with 2)
Offside: 0
Corner kicks: 10
Saves: 0
HOUSTON DYNAMO HEAD COACH BEN OLSEN
On the performance:
"Overall, super pleased with the result and we are moving on in the tournament. More so than that, it is just amazing what you can do when everybody is selfless and gives a complete effort. Guys are cramping out there and they're exhausted in (the locker room) because they gave everything for each other, and you ride your luck a little bit. (Kansas City) had some good chances, as you know, as the opponent would be with us going down early like that. But, again, the structure and the commitment were awesome. I'm proud of them. It's a good mood in there. It's a lot of guys that have not gotten a lot of minutes, not only up until this point, but also collectively. So the rhythms are off. I put them in a new structure from the get-go, that we worked on for a few days, and that wasn't ever going to be perfect. So, at the end of all this kind of craziness, and in the game, somehow, we got through it. Super, super proud of the effort that they put in tonight."
On Thor Ulfarsson’s goal:
"A lot of players can get that man of the match ball. He scored a goal and was a handful all night long, physically won a bunch of aerial duels for us down the stretch there that bought us some time. Other than that, it was his defensive work. He was in a bunch of uncomfortable spots that he's usually not in throughout the game. Dealing with overloads and defending the box. We did a lot of that stuff that he's not used to. And he did that. Again. That's what tonight was about."
On his pride that the team have not conceded a goal at home this year:
"I'm super proud of it. I've never shied away from you know, my love for defending. I hope it's infectious to this group. I hope they have the same pride in not being scored on. It's a wonderful thing. Obviously, it gives you a really good chance to win games. It's work and sacrifice and you have to suffer at times and it's not always sexy. Sometimes people don't love to watch it, but I got a real appreciation for a team that is constantly trying to get better on the offensive end. We want to score goals, we want to score three, four goals, we want to win four-zero. Until that starts to click, until we figure that part out. It's nice to be able to hang your hat on a good defensive shape or good structure. The structure, they believe in that and four or five clean sheets at home here, it's pretty impressive.”
HOUSTON DYNAMO GOALKEEPER ANDREW TARBELL
On his saves today:
“They were a man up, so they were able to create overloads, get crosses off. Luckily they didn't get anything, but we kept them at a distance. They weren’t able to really get many clear looks. It was a great job by the guys.”
On earning more minutes:
“Any chance you get to play, it is really special. I am just trying to make the most of it.”
On playing with new teammates:
“Those guys brought a lot of energy, I know everyone was excited to play this game. In order to advance in this tournament you have to be up for it.”
On shifting focus to league play:
“It’s a long season, all the different tournaments, a lot of regular season games, so we will be in tomorrow in training and recovery just getting ready and moving on to the next day and keep doing our best to win games.”
On head coach Ben Olsen’s message to the team:
“He is proud of the team. Everyone is working together and at the end of the day if we work together, good results will come if we keep doing that. We are a great unit. We have a good collective mentality about the team and he was just encouraging that.”
HOUSTON DYNAMO FORWARD THOR ULFARSSON
On scoring his first goal of the year for the club:
"It was a special feeling and a good start to the season for me. I just saw the ball swing and tried to get in there. The ball fell out to me and I just took a shot."
On getting more minutes:
"It's absolutely vital. Just to stay up to date with the season with a lot of games in May and June."
On his role when there were 10 men:
"Just to compact and shift. We worked as a team, and if we all work for each other and do our job individually we can see out the game.”
