Throwback Thursday: Dynamo rally in second half to beat Earthquakes

(image via Houston Dynamo FC)

The Houston Dynamo take on the San Jose Earthquakes this Saturday night at Shell Energy Stadium. There is lots of history between these clubs over the years. Let’s throwback to a memorable matchup between the two in September of 2018.

Background

The 2018 season was one of the brightest and darkest seasons within the dark years of the Dynamo organization. This year saw a very talented roster struggle with on and off injuries which led to some inconsistent play throughout the long season. There were some bright spots, for sure, with the Dynamo winning the 2018 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup and seeing both Mauro Manotas and Alberth Elis breakout into star players in MLS. This match came just three days after that Open Cup win, so this was the highest morale had been all season.

For San Jose, it was all misery in 2018. They finished bottom of the Western Conference and were knocked out of the Open Cup in the first round by Portland. Chris Wondolowski, inching towards Landon Donovan’s all time goal scoring record, was about the only positive from that season. This was the sixth game in a twelve-game winless run that started in early September of 2018 and lasted until April of the following season. New England legend Steve Ralston was the head coach for San Jose following Mikael Stahre’s sacking two games prior. Steve also was an assistant coach for the Dynamo from 2010-2014.

Lineups

First Half

Being the US Open Cup Final was just played three days prior, there was a whole lot of rotation for Wilmer Cabrera to do. Kevin Garcia and Memo Rodriguez were awarded with a rare opportunity to start the game. New signing Ronaldo Pena was also given his second start in a Dynamo jersey. San Jose came out with their ideal lineup for this match. The Earthquakes certainly looked like the team with fresher legs to start the match, as they dominated most of the first half. Following some poor defensive positioning from Adam Lundqvist, Chris Wondolowski was able to play Tommy Thompson in behind to run at Alejandro Fuenmayor. Fuenmayor had a thing for poor defending during his time in Houston and this was no different as he tripped up Thompson giving away a clear penalty. As we all know, Wondolowski is one of the last players in MLS you want to see stepping up to the penalty spot against you. He buried the penalty, like always, as he loved to haunt the Dynamo throuhgout his entire career. Right before the half time whistle, we saw some more bad defending from Lundqvist and Fuenmayor as Jackson Yuiell got in behind and played a cross into Wondolowski. Fuenmayor made sure Wondolowski didn’t get a second goal of the match by putting the ball in the net himself to make it 2-0 to San Jose.

Second Half

After that embaressment of a first half, Wilmer Cabrera decided it was time to bring on Romell Quioto to change this game. He also brought on Adolfo Machado to replace the struggling Fuenmayor. Early in the second half, Tomas Martinez picked up the ball in a nice pocket of space and played a wonderful pass to Manotas. This was the type of passing we all wished Tomas was able to make on a consistent basis when he was signed. Manotas was 1v1 with defender Guram Kashia and struck the ball towards the near post with loads of power. Current Dynamo backup goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell saw the ball late and let it roll under him. This goal from Manotas broke the single season goal scoring record for the Dynamo that was only just broken the previous season by Cubo Torres. Manotas went on to extend that record to 19 goals, which is where that record currently stands. Just ten minutes later, the Dynamo won a corner kick that Romell Quioto swung in and the ball was missed by Tarbell. Martinez picked up the loose ball in the box and struck it near post for it to somehow squeak into the net past the two defenders on the line. In the 86th minute, Manotas showed off his athleticism knocking the ball past two defenders leaving him all alone on the wing with acres of space. He played it into the back post where Tarbell missed the ball again and Quioto was waiting to tap the winner in.

While this win wasn’t hugely important, it capped off a few weeks of great soccer in Houston towards the end of the 2018 season. Games like this make you think, what could have been that season? Hopefully this weekend the Dynamo can repeat history with another three points against a still struggling San Jose side. Maybe this time they won’t make it so difficult!