Two late goals give Dynamo third straight win
The Houston Dynamo returned home coming off back-to-back wins and attempted to make it three straight with the San Jose Earthquakes visiting Shell Energy Stadium. Houston fell behind early and left it late but managed to grab all three points in a gritty, come from behind 2-1 victory.
San Jose got on the board just a minute in. A corner kick from Cristian Espinoza was swung into the box and defender Bruno Wilson rose to head it back to the far post and open the scoring just 58 seconds in. After two straight clean sheets, the Dynamo conceded after a minute and now had to chase the game.
Houston controlled the ball after San Jose’s goal and were in possession for the majority of the half. It became even more lopsided when San Jose went down to ten men. Earthquakes forward Preston Judd elbowed Dynamo defender Erik Sviatchenko away from the ball and VAR caught the act. After a review, referee Ismir Pekmic showed Judd the straight red card. The Dynamo controlled almost all of the ball the remainder of the first half but couldn’t get a goal and San Jose went into the break up 1-0.
Brad Smith, last week’s hero, came on in the 55th minute for Sviatchenko as the Dynamo tried to find a goal. Smith nearly made an instant impact again, forcing a big kick save from Quakes goalkeeper William Yarbrough in the 59th minute.
The Dynamo kept the ball for nearly the whole time but weren’t able to create any dangerous chances. Sebastian Kowalczyk came on for Jan Gregus in the 70th minute as Houston pushed all their chips in. Amine Bassi did well to create space at the top of the box and fire a shot on goal in the 76th minute that looked to be blocked by the hand of a San Jose player. Pekmic went to the video screen for review and somehow decided not to award a penalty kick.
With ten minutes to play it was time for someone to step up for the Dynamo and take the ball and create. That man was defensive midfielder Artur, of all people. The Brazilian drove into the box on his own and laid the ball over to Sebas Ferreira. The Paraguayan turned and fired a shot on goal and it took a deflection and found the back of the net. It was Ferreira’s first goal in over a year and gave Houston a much-needed equalizer in the 81st minute.
Minutes later, the Dynamo would complete the comeback. A corner was whipped into the box, in the 85th minute, and Aliyu Ibrahim got up to head it toward the back post. Yarbrough made a fantastic save at full stretch to deny the Nigerian but the rebound landed at the feet of Escobar. The Dynamo full back made no mistake and smashed the ball into the roof of the net to flip the script and give the Dynamo a 2-1 lead.
Ferreira had to come off late in the match with what looked like a leg injury. Dynamo fans will hold their breath about the seriousness of that. San Jose captain Jackson Yueill was shown his second yellow in stoppage time, leaving the Earthquakes with nine men. The Dynamo saw out the match and earned their third straight win with the 2-1 victory.
Houston will return to the road next weekend as they travel north for a meeting with the Chicago Fire. After a tough start to the season, the Dynamo are starting to find their form. And captain Hector Herrera could be on his way back soon. Things are looking up in H-Town.
