Dynamo Hold On in St. Louis for Much Needed Win
(image via St. Louis CITY SC)
Coming into Saturday night’s contest in St. Louis, the Houston Dynamo had not won a game in any competition since July 5. It’s been a long summer for Houston but with their backs against the wall and fighting for their playoff lives, they took it to St. Louis CITY SC at Energizer Park.
Defender Erik Sviatchenko returned to the starting lineup for his first match since June 28, the last time Houston played St. Louis. Lawrence Ennali also got a start on the left wing and Brooklyn Raines came back into the midfield after serving a suspension last week.
Houston got the scoring going in the 20th minute. A free kick from the left side of the field was whipped into the box by Jack McGlynn. The ball curled toward the six yard box and Ezequiel Ponce was first to it, powering his header past Roman Burki to give the Dynamo a 1-0 lead.
St. Louis tried to answer through their big striker Joao Klauss but the Brazilian twice was unable to convert. He pulled a shot wide of goal in the 34th minute and then had a golden chance in the 40th minute right in front of goal that he shot wide with his left foot.
The Dynamo took a 1-0 lead to half time and then came out for the second half and almost immediately doubled their lead. Griffin Dorsey broke free on the right and fired a cross in toward Ponce. The DP striker got in front of defender Harry Kessler and the ball came off the St. Louis defender and into the net to make the score 2-0 in the 50th minute
Houston put the game away in the 72nd minute thanks to a St. Louis error. Defender Fallou Fall lost possession deep in his own half and Ondrej Lingr was able to drive toward goal in a 2-on-1 situation. He slid the ball across for substitute Duane Holmes and he slammed his shot into the roof of the net for his first goal for the Dynamo to make the game 3-0.
St. Louis pulled a goal back in the 86th minute. Midfielder Eduard Lowen latched onto a bouncing ball in the box and showed incredible technique to thump a volley into the top corner past the diving Jonathan Bond.
The game got even more interesting just minutes later when CITY grabbed another goal. Christopher Durkin put a cross to the back post and Mykhi Joiner was all alone to head past Bond in the 89th minute to pull the score to 3-2.
CITY nearly found an improbable equalizer in stoppage time. Klauss had his back to goal but flicked his header and it caromed off the post and out. St. Louis threw the kitchen sink forward in the final moments but could not find a third goal of their own. The full time whistle blew giving Houston the 3-2 win.
The win snapped a nine-match winless run for the Dynamo in all competitions and gave head coach Ben Olsen his 150th regular season MLS win. Houston will return to Shell Energy Stadium next weekend. The Dynamo will host the LA Galaxy in a match that was rescheduled from earlier this year due to bad weather.
