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Recap: Houston Dynamo vs. Dallas FC 7/21

Last Saturday saw Dallas FC come to Houston to face the Dynamo in the first game of this season’s Texas Derby. And truth be told, as much they were playing soccer, the match amounted to a long game of tug and war. But let’s talk about the soccer because it was tense.

First Half

Everything started really quickly in this game, almost too quickly. See, amongst my group of friends we have an adage that says “never score too early”, something that was clearly never said the Dallas FC. In the first minute, Dallas earned a corner which Barrios quick kicked out to Mosquera, who pulls an exceptional dribble up towards the top of the box before unleashing a beautiful, curving cross that finds the head of a charging Austin Hedges for an emphatic first goal of the match

DFC 1 HOU 0

As phenomenal as that first-minute goal was, Houston stayed up and fighting. Without missing a beat the Dynamo began working up the wings to try and get crosses into the box. In the 8th minute, Quioto, receiving a well-placed ball from Watts, acts as though he’s charging into the box before kicking a cross into the box for Monatos to head in for a goal.

DFC 1 HOU 1

There was an injury in the 24th minute, Santiago Mosquera came up lame while running downfield. In the end, he had to be stretchered off and subbed off for Tesho Akindele. And that was the last truly notable thing to happen in the first half. Both teams spent the rest of the first half battling to take turns making runs on goal, all flawed in their own way. Houston was mostly undone by an inability to get a finishing head or foot on anything in the final third in the last part of the half. This despite the Dynamo pretty consistently breaking into the final third. Whereas Dallas struggled with getting those final passes strung together in the final 1/3. Dallas also gave possession away more than a couple of times with miscommunication or just thoughtless play.

Second Half

Neither team came out of the tunnel and into the second half looking very sharp. Again both teams struggled with different problems for various amounts of time, with the Dynamo not seeming to know what to do with the ball. And Dallas FC’s first half miscommunication’s seemed to be running farther amok.

Then in the 59th minute, Urriti makes a move to get away from two Dynamo defenders before putting a through ball into the box for Barrios. Just as soon as Barrios gets on the ball, he’s taken down by Machado in the box. Then much to the dismay of the Dynamo, the referee awards Dallas FC a penalty kick. Lamah takes the kick for Dallas and proceeds to kick the ball directly into Willis, who makes the rebound after Lamah gets another touch on the ball. Definitely a missed opportunity for Dallas, and one that just two minutes later would look to be fatal.

In the 62nd minute, Monatos gets another goal off a ball crossed on the ground from Beasley. A goal that would last all of three minutes before getting called back by VAR for offsides. Ten minutes later in the 72nd minute, Dallas squanders another golden opportunity to go up when Lamah misses an open goal off the crossbar.

Final Score DFC 1 HOU 1

Dallas is definitely going to see this as a game that they should have won, and one that Lamah might have nightmares about moving forward. Houston on the other hand probably walked away with the best result that they could have expected. Houston will try to build on the tie with league-leading Dallas FC when they welcome Philadelphia to Houston next Wednesday, July 25th.

Dynamo Starting 11: Willis, Beasley (C), Watts, Machado, Fuenmayor, Quioto, Ceren, Elis, Martinez, Alexander, Monatos
Dynamo Subs Used: B. Garcia for Alexander (61st), Memo Rodriguez for Quioto (75th), Luis Gil for Martinez (89th)

Dallas FC Starting 11: Gonzalez, Cannon, Ziegler, Hedges (C), Figueroa, Gruezo, Mosquera, Ulloa, Lamah, Barrios, Urruti
Dallas FC Subs Used: Akindele for Mosquera (25th), Acosta for Barrios (75th), Hollingshead for Lamah (83rd)

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