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Recap: Houston Dynamo vs. Minnesota United FC 7/7

Dynamo Starting 11: Willis, Machado, Senderos, Beasley(C), Fuenmayor, Ceren, Martinez, Alexander, Quioto, Manotas, Elis

Dynamo Subs Used: Lundqvist for Beasley(45th minute), B. Garcia for Alexander(72nd minute), Rodriguez for Quioto(80th minute)

Minnesota United FC: Shuttleworth, Boxall(C), Mears, Kallmen, Ibarra, Schuller, Gomez, Ibson, Warner, Quintero, Ramirez

Minnesota United FC Subs Used: Toye for Ramirez(66th minute), Miller for Schuller(72nd Minute), Heath for Warner(85th Minute)

First Half

The Dynamo kicked off at 8 P.M. Saturday night and the game was a fantastic show. The first notable occurrence of the match was a yellow card in the 5th-minute given to Mears for taking down Quioto just outside of the box, and this set a tone. All throughout the match, MUFC would play Houston very physically, with special emphasis being put on that strategy anytime the Dynamo were near the box. The free kick from the yellow card was well taken by Quioto but not particularly close. Houston made a couple more runs before MUFC’s Ramirez broke through the Dynamo backline towards goal in the 9th-minute, but failed to score due to some handy goalkeeping from Willis. Later in the 21st-minute, Beasley took a pretty good shot on goal that caused the goalkeeper to dive. Despite dominating possession, Houston didn’t really get any quality shots or runs on goal from open play in the first half outside of Beasley’s shot which was really good. In the 31st-minute, Elis manages to win the aerial battle for a ball in MUFC’s box and heads a beautiful ball to the far post but Shuttleworth made a great save to keep it tied at 0. But during a 35th-minute corner, the ball is hit to the ground in the middle of the box and Senderos hammers it into the back of the net

Dynamo 1 MUFC 0

Fuenmayor is given a yellow card for an unnecessary tackle in the 40th minute while trying to defend around the box. Even with the free kick that the yellow card yielded, the continued press that Minnesota was putting up couldn’t come up with anything on the pitch.

Second Half

The second half started off quick, barely getting out of the first minute before the Dynamo were threatening again. In the 46th minute, Manotas got a beautiful lofted ball from Ceren that he missed putting in the back of the net by a couple of feet. Either way, it wouldn’t take Senderos long to get back into scoring position from a 50th-minute corner kick. Senderos took an absolutely beautiful run on the ball and just sunk it into the net.

Dynamo 2 MUFC 0

The next attack came from Lundqvist who took an impressively long shot in the 53rd minute that bounced off the top bar. Alexi Gomez was given a yellow card in the 62nd minute, Ibson was given one in the 75th, and Miller was given one in the 76th. Elis made a really good looking run in the 81st minute but like so many other times recently he came up short on finishing. Mostly because he waited until almost the last possible second to take a shot, which could have been disappointing, and probably would have been. However, in the 93rd-minute Elis would take an open ball in the box and his chance to tap the ball into the back of the net and break his goalless streak.

Dynamo 3 MUFC 0

Analysis

Minnesota’s defense wasn’t stout or impressive in the first half or at all during the game, but they did have strengths. MUFC did a good job of clearing the ball out of the box and preventing our strikers from getting good lanes to shoot. Credit to the Dynamo front three for continuing to push but you have to give a lot of credit to Senderos who now has three goals in his last two games. one of those goals was in extra time to tie the game, so he has to be considered the crucial man on the field. Houston did an alright job of keeping MUFC out of the box and preventing open windows from opening up. But alright is as good as it gets, honestly, MUFC wasted a couple of really good opportunities. Especially hattrick hero Quintero’s fellow frontman Ramirez who just failed to finish two or three times during the match

Next week the Dynamo will be heading to Colorado for some cross-league play with the Rapids.