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The Houston Dynamo looked dominant in their 2-0 win over the Colorado Rapids. After going 0-2 in their last road trip, the team was in control of the game and got a well deserved three points to stay just outside of a playoff position. The Dynamo also saw the return of Alejandro Fuenmayor following his two match suspension by the MLS Disciplinary Committee and Philippe Senderos also got minutes in his first league game since March 10th.
Quick Thoughts about the Game:
1) The Dynamo were in complete control of this game as they held the majority of the possession inside Colorado’s half. They also moved the ball well without turning it over as they were effective at switching the ball side-to-side and finding through passes well. The play that DaMarcus Beasley earned a penalty on showed their use of through passes and how well the Dynamo executed them. Another area the Dynamo excelled at was winning the ball in dangerous spaces. Just look where Tomás Martínez wins the ball leading up to his goal. It required some individual skill on his part to score, but winning the ball in those places sets you up for good chances.
2) There was something familiar about the Colorado Rapids game plan that the Dynamo have seen far too many times. The Rapids sat back and let Houston control the game in their half which led to a lot of chances for us to score. This is something we’ve seen the Dynamo do after getting an early lead except while we’ve done this strategy for a half at a time before Colorado did it for 90 minutes. Their unwillingness to support their lone striker meant every time they gained possession it was a clearance back to us. Their offense relied on one or two man counter attacks and set pieces which took pressure off our defense and let the fullbacks push up and support the offense.
3) The injury bug giveth, and the injury bug taketh away. The Dynamo have been one of the clubs hit hardest by injuries and just when we saw Andrew Wenger return, he went down again. Philippe Senderos also made his return to league action after playing in the US Open Cup earlier in the week. With so many players on the injury report, the Dynamo are happy to have a tiny break with no games this week with the World Cup beginning.
4) Let’s keep this win in perspective because despite the dominance of the performance we were playing the league bottom team that refused to attack us and was reduced to 10 men before halftime. The Dynamo played them well, but were perhaps unfortunate to not get more than 2 goals given how often we had the ball in their final third.