The Houston Dynamo were supposed to host Toronto FC on Saturday night at 8 pm CT instead the two teams played just over 24 hours later on Sunday night after lightening prevented the teams from kicking off the game on Saturday. While it started to rain after things kicked off on Sunday the lightening never showed up and they were able to play a full 90 minutes of soccer in Houston.
The Dynamo dominated things early on giving Toronto little chance with the ball. In the 8th minute, Mauro Manotas chipped the ball over the TFC defender in front of him to Chaco Maidana. The ball took a bounce toward Maidana who hit a shot with his right foot to find the back of the net and put the Dynamo up 1-0.
The Dynamo tried to keep up the pressure but Toronto started to find more of the ball and in the 24th minute TFC leveled things up. Giovinco found Jozy Altidore on a corner kick who's shot went right past Joe Willis' outstretched hand. Altidore was standing at the penalty spot completely unmarked on the play that made it 1-1 on the scoreboard.
As the first half came to a close Abdoulie Mansally brought Sebastian Giovinco down from behind. Mansally was shown a straight red for denial of a goal scoring opportunity leaving the Dynamo to face the second half with 10-men on the field.
When the halftime whistle blew the two teams were level in time of possession and the Dynamo had seven shots to TFC's five.
In spite of being down to 10-men in the second half the Dynamo still had several chances in the second half. In fact they had eight shots in the second half which was one more than the seven they had in the first half. However, it was TFC that dominated possession and shots in the second half. TFC had eleven shots in the second half after the Dynamo had held them to five in the first. Jozy Altidore almost got his second goal of the night in the 63rd minute, but his shot went off the post to save the Dynamo from going down to TFC.
Collen Warner looked like he was going to get the Dynamo a late win with his half-volley but it went skimming just over the crossbar. The Dynamo had to settle for a 1-1 result at home.
While the red card to Mansally changed the Dynamo game plan in the second half Manotas made a huge impact on the offense throughout the night. He created numerous chances in front of goal and clearly deserves a starting spot on this roster.
The Dynamo are back in action on Friday night against the San Jose Earthquakes.
Lineup
The @GEICO starting XI: Willis; Williams, Anibaba, Agus, Mansally; Warner, Wenger, Alex, Maidana, García; Manotas pic.twitter.com/ybxaQA0r9R
— Houston Dynamo (@HoustonDynamo) August 15, 2016
The @BacardiCanada XI: Bono; Williams, Moor, Hagglund; Bloom, Bradley, Morrow, Delgado, Osorio; Altidore, Giovinco.#HOUvTOR #TFCLive
— Toronto FC (@torontofc) August 15, 2016
16' #TFCLive SUB
— Toronto FC (@torontofc) August 15, 2016
IN: Chapman
OUT: Bloom#HOUvTOR
41' #TFCLive SUB
— Toronto FC (@torontofc) August 15, 2016
IN: Morgan
OUT: Morrow#HOUvTOR
HALFTIME SUB: Raúl Rodríguez replaces Andrew Wenger after Mansally's red. Anibaba will slide to left back. https://t.co/HP3dDgGSdV #HOUvTOR
— Houston Dynamo (@HoustonDynamo) August 15, 2016
65' SUB: Ricardo Clark comes on for Chaco Maidana. https://t.co/HP3dDgGSdV #HOUvTOR
— Houston Dynamo (@HoustonDynamo) August 15, 2016
71' #TFCLive SUB
— Toronto FC (@torontofc) August 15, 2016
IN: Ricketts
OUT: Altidore#HOUvTOR
83' SUB: Will Bruin on for Mauro Manotas. Last sub for the #Dynamo, tied 1-1. https://t.co/HP3dDgGSdV #HOUvTOR
— Houston Dynamo (@HoustonDynamo) August 15, 2016