ASC New Stars Cruise Past 10-Man Real Houston FC in U.S. Open Cup Qualifier
(image via Aldo Canale)
A rainy afternoon in the Space City was the backdrop when Real Houston Football Club, representing USSL Texas hosted ASC New Stars from Houston Football Association (HFA) in the Second Qualifying Round of the 2027 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
ASC New Stars got the first chance of the match when in the fifth minute of play, Franklin Barry, jumped to connect with a cross from the right side of the field and redirect the ball towards goal. The ball rung off the crossbar, announcing the intentions of the team wearing their characteristic bright yellow jersey, intentions of utter dominance by the end of the ninety minutes.
Ivan Luqeutta of ASC New Stars droped a pass off to Winner Assi for what seemed an easy shot on target, but the forward wasn’t able to put that on frame, sparing Real Houston FC and leaving the scoreboard at 0 for both teams. The HFA squad slowly but surely were putting the pressure on their opponent.
New Stars hit the cross bar on two more occasions, once off a beautiful left footed shot from Vinh Trung Le, and the other from an attempt on goal by Dessaline Felix Allison. Real Houston tried to respond but without much luck; they only recorded one shot in the first 35 minutes of the match.
The game changed drastically when in the 38th minute, when Miguel Mangue was sent off for what the referee deemed an act of “violent conduct”. Mangue, in the run of play, was found guilty of taking his elbow to an opponent’s face, therefore earning himself the red card. After a few minutes of medical assistance to the New Stars player, the free kick was taken. A long ball was dropped inside the box and Assi rose above the rest to head a ball that dropped inside the six yard box for Le to beat his defender and bury it in the goal. After looking for the goal for the majority of the match, New Starts were rewarded with a goal.
As the first half was coming to an end, Real Houston were inches away from an equalizer just before the whistle. New Stars goalkeeper, Gino Marco Burioni, had a double save to keep his goal scoreless. This was a huge boost for New Stars because this would have for sure given Real a much needed breath of fresh air in a game where they had been suffering to get to the opponents box.
Real Houston, with 10 men, actually looked a bit more competitive, and given their circumstances they needed to go forward to try and find an equalizer. This meant they would leave spaces available for their opponent to exploit and that is exactly what New Stars did in the 63th minute. Assi and Allison, the two most dangerous players for the squad in yellow, built a great play together, which ultimately left Assi with the keeper to beat. Assi, who minutes before found himself with a dislocated shoulder being popped back in place, rounded the keeper and drilled home the second goal of the night for New Stars.
Ronald Goings, goalkeeper for Real Houston, made some great saves, and even played, sweeper-keeper at times to try and keep Real Houston in the game denying clear scoring options. But unfortunately for Real, a third goal came for New Stars. Diego Herrera lifted his head in the middle of the field and found Allison making a nice run between lines. A great ball made its way to the runner, who didn’t forgive his rivals this time and finally got his name on the scoresheet, making it 3-0 in the 71st minute of the match.
With a downtrodden Real Houston looking for a redemption goal, New Stars took advantage of the tired legs, not only due to the number superiority, but also a wet field that made legs feel like logs. Ahmad, midfielder for New Stars, found himself on a solo run against the keeper and he wasn’t a match to the cold-blooded finish by the attacker. New Stars were now up 4-0 and it seemed like this would be the end of the game with only about 11 minutes to be played in the match.
Goings, the Real goalkeeper, came out for another of his keeper-sweeper attempts and made a slide tackle a little more violently than usual, taking down a New Stars man right outside the box. This tackle earned Goings a red card, and it gave New Stars another opportunity for a dangerous chance. Elvis Rahmanovic turned this free kick into the fifth and final goal of a 5-0 rout, with a rocket that ended in the upper 90 of the goal with nothing for the new, makeshift goalkeeper to do.
ASC New Stars, a legendary club in the Space City, once again showed their winning traditions and advanced comfortably to the next stage of the 2027 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The new kids on the block, Real Houston FC, will have to go back to the drawing board and see how they can strengthen their side for next year’s edition.
