Lamar Hunt US Open Cup: Houston Dynamo defeat Sporting Kansas City, advance to semifinals

Wednesday night the Houston Dynamo and Sporting Kansas City faced off to see who would advance to the next round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. SKC won the Open Cup in 2017 while the Dynamo have never won the Open Cup. By the final whistle the Dynamo had knocked out SKC and punched their ticket to the semifinals.

It took just two minutes for Johnny Russell to put Sporting Kansas City up early in the game. It was a counter attack that helped get Russell from midfield to in front of goal with only Darwin Ceren anywhere near him. Dynamo goalkeeper Chris Seitz came out to attempt to make a stop but Russell shot the ball just to his right and across the goal line.

Romell Quioto leveled things back up in the 35th minute of the game. Quioto took a free kick for the Dynamo after Alberth Elis drew the foul. The ball from Quioto went over the wall and into the upper corner of the net. SKC goalkeeper Tim Melia had positioned him self towards the other end of the net and could do nothing but watch as the ball went by.

In the second half Mauro Manotas nearly gave the Dynamo the lead in the 62nd minute. Manotas went 1v1 against Melia but his shot went just wide of the net. Minutes later the Dynamo would find a goal and take the lead. Darwin Ceren played the ball over the top as Quioto got behind the defense. He easily finished his shot as he went 1v1 against Melia to make it 2-1.

Manotas was hungry in the second half as once again he went 1v1 against Melia and once again he was denied. However, the ball fell back to Manotas after the shot was blocked by Melia giving him an opportunity to do something with it. He moved away from Melia with the ball and was able to get his shot off and into the net to make it 3-1 Dynamo.

Not content with one goal on the evening Manotas scored again to record a brace in the game. Manotas headed in the cross from Memo Rodriguez to extend the Dynamo’s lead. Unfortunately, the Dynamo’s lead was cut down in stoppage time when Darwin Ceren scored an own goal as his tackle chipped the ball over Seitz and into the net. In spite of the own goal the Dynamo were still victorious with a final score of 4-2 in their favor.

With the win the Dynamo will head to the US Open Cup Semifinals and will face LAFC or the Portland Timbers. The location and time of the game have yet to be set.

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