Winless streak reaches four with Dynamo loss at home to Minnesota
The Houston Dynamo saw their winless streak extended to four games with a 3-0 loss to Minnesota United Wednesday night at Shell Energy Stadium. The visitors scored twice in quick succession in the first half and were able to sit back defensively and keep out any attacks from Houston.
Houston came out with just one change from Saturday’s lineup, with Micael returning from suspension and replacing Ethan Bartlow. The Brazilian was caught on the ground as Minnesota opened the scoring in the 15th minute. A deflected shot made its way to Bongi Hlongwane near the penalty spot. He sat Micael down with a good fake and then slotted the ball into the top corner past Steve Clark and retreating Houston defenders. The goal would give Minnesota the advantage and they would shortly double their lead.
The Dynamo lost possession in their own half and with defender Erik Sviatchenko pushed up the field, new DP striker Teemu Pukki saw an opening. Emanuel Reynoso spun Micael around then played a ball into the path of Pukki who began his run from his own half. The Finnish striker darted straight to goal and made no mistake, beating Clark for his first Major League Soccer goal.
Aliyu Ibrahim and Amine Bassi had chances at the end of the first half but both ended up tamely into the arms of Minnesota goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair. The Loons would take the 2-0 lead into halftime with Ben Olsen’s side needing to come out much better for the second 45.
Minnesota came out for the second half comfortable to stay back and defend. They invited Houston forward and the Dynamo obliged. Unfortunately for the men in orange, they were never able to break down the Loons back line. The Dynamo continued to push numbers forward trying to get back into the game and they’d be caught on the counter as MInnesota sealed the three.
The Loons countered as Houston threw numbers forward in the 87th minute. Mender Garcia carried the ball forward and played Hlongwane alone in front of goal. Clark made a big save to deny the South African his brace but Ismael Tajouri-Shradi was by himself to tap in the rebound and make it 3-0.
There’s no rest for the weary as the Dynamo are back in action again this weekend. Houston travels to Colorado for a match up with the Rapids on Saturday night. Coco Carrasquilla will not be back as he has a Gold Cup final to play Sunday. Carrasquilla had an assist and scored the winning penalty as Panama defeated the United States in Wednesday night’s semifinal. Coco’s winning penalty win it about the time Tajouri-Shradi scored Minnesota’s third. That about sums up the evening.
