Open Cup Ends for Houston Dynamo in Penalty Kicks
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
The Houston Dynamo visited Energizer Park in St. Louis for a quarterfinal match up in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup against St. Louis CITY SC. With a semifinal berth on the line, this game lived up to a knock-out match.
The home side opened the scoring in the 10th minute. A ball into the box wasn’t dealt with by the Houston defense and it bounced around in the confusion. Marcel Hartel got to it and lashed a shot past Jonathan Bond to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead.
Houston answered back two minutes later. After Jack McGlynn was denied by a good save from Roman Burki, St. Louis played a short goal kick. Pressure from Guilherme forced a pass back to Burku. The CITY goalkeeper took a touch but then slipped to the ground. Mateusz Bogusz was there to capitalize and tapped into the open net to make the score 1-1 in the 12th minute.
Burki had to leave the match not long after with an injury. Ben Lundt took over in goal for St. Louis. The Dynamo’s first goal came from a goalkeeper error and the second had more questions asked of the home side’s other keeper. Dynamo captain Artur let fly from well outside the box in the 42nd minute. The ball had enough pace that it went all the way through te box and past Lundt, putting Houston ahead 2-1.
It didn’t take long for St. Louis in the second half to level the match once again. Dynamo defender Agustin Resch wrestled for the ball with Sergio Cordova and the referee pointed to the spot for a penalty kick. VAR confirmed the call and Hartel stepped up. The German beat Bond in the bottom left corner to tie the score at 2-2 in the 51st minute.
Both teams had decent chances at a winner but the goalkeepers made the necessary saves. The score remained 2-2 after 90 minutes and the match headed into 30 minutes of extra time.
The Dynamo looked the more likely team to score in the first half of extra time. Artur had another shot from distance that Lundt parried away in the 103rd minute. Substitute Ondrej Lingr had a golden chance in the final minute of the first 15 of extra time. A long ball over the top was run on to by the Czech attacker and he was in on goal alone. Lingr rounded Lundt but as he went to shoot, defender Dante Polvara slid in to block the shot and keep the game tied.
The Dynamo went down to ten men in the second half of extra time. Lawrence Ennali brought down a St. Louis attacker just outside the box in the 109th minute and was given his second yellow card and subsequent red.
The match remained scoreless and penalty kicks would decide who advanced to the semifinals. St. Louis started with a goal from Edu Lowen. Guilherme shot first for Houston but was saved by Lundt. St. Louis made their next three with Houston making two. With the hosts up 4-2, Hector Herrera had to score to keep the game alive. Lundt guessed correctly again and pushed away the shot to give St. Louis CITY the win and eliminate the Dynamo from the U.S. Open Cup.
Houston has another short week as they will travel to Southern California to take on the LA Galaxy. That match will be the final game before the league takes nearly two months off for the FIFA World Cup.
