Houston Dynamo Crash Out of Champions League after 0-1 Loss to Tigres

The Houston Dynamo entered the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinals down a pair of goals to Tigres UANL. In the opening leg at BBVA Compass Stadium, the two battled in a very close match, but Tigres scored two goals in three minutes late to put the game away. This time the Dynamo would fall 0-1 to Tigres at Estadio Univeritario.

Throughout the early minutes of the game both Tigres and the Dynamo looked to find some rhythm. The Dynamo looked to have a little more having won an early corner, but Tigres had a counter that nearly had them 1v1 with Joe Willis, but DaMarcus Beasley made a good play to keep the score level.

Tigres forward Enner Valencia would receive a dangerous ball inside the Dynamo 18 yard box which he brought down and looked to go on goal. However, the referee correctly ruled that Valencia had handled the ball as he brought it down. Not long after that Eduardo Vargas tried his luck on Joe Willis who he thought was off his line. Willis stepped up big with a full stretch save to keep the score level.

Wilmer Cabrera went to his bench early in the 19^th minute as Cabrera opted to remove DaMarcus Beasley for tactical purposes. In his place Adam Lundqvist stepped up to fill the US Men’s National Team legend’s shoes.

In the 23^rd minute a poor giveaway by Tigres nearly gifted the Dynamo a goal. Tommy McNamara will definitely want his chance back as his shot was easily saved by Tigres goalkeeper Nahuel Guzmán.

Before halftime both sides would swap spells of possession with neither side making it easy for the offense. The substitute Adam Lundqvist brought down a Tigres player outside the 18 yard box in the 41^st minute. The contact looked minimal and the center official wasn’t initially interested in making the call, but a frantically waving assistant referee changed his mind. The resulting free kick was taken short and the effort went wide.

The Dynamo came out with energy after halftime and in the 49^th minute Alberth Elis took on his defender and got free to set up Mauro Manotas. The effort by Manotas was too high as it sailed over the top, but the chances were adding up for Houston – though nothing to show for them yet.

Tigres then came inches from putting the game away. The ball was whipped across to Valencia who headed it towards goal where it was poked just wide of goal. The play would see Maynor Figueroa injured who appeared to be kicked from behind. The following corner kick led to the opening goal of the game as Carlos Salcedo put the ball passed Joe Willis in the 68^th minute.

After the goal, Tigres gained more momentum and confidence as the Dynamo were now forced to chase and commit numbers further up which opened up space for the counter attack.

Some very casual defending by the Dynamo, likely brought on by how late it was in the game with Tigres leading 3 goals to nil on aggregate, nearly saw Jesús Dueñas double their lead. A ball into the box saw Dueñas unmarked near goal, but his shot was off the mark.

The final whistle would blow and after 90 minutes the home side Tigres UANL would win 1 goal to the Dynamo’s 0 or 3-0 on aggregate. Overall it was not a bad outing for the Dynamo, but they struggled with their finishing and they couldn’t adjust after the Carlos Scaledo goal.

With the Dynamo now officially out of CCL, they can turn their attention to the MLS regular season with the Vancouver Whitecaps coming to town this Saturday.

Goals:

68’ TIG: Carlos Scaledo

Disciplinary:

45’ +1’ HOU: Maynor Figueroa (yellow card)

55’ HOU: Matías Vera (yellow card)

64’ HOU: Kiki Struna (yellow card)

Lineups:

Houston Dynamo (4-3-3): Joe Willis; DaMarcus Beasley (20’ Adam Lundqvist), Maynor Figueroa (75’ Kevin Garcia), Kiki Struna, A.J. DeLaGarza; Oscar Boniek García (73’ Tomás Martínez), Matías Vera, Tommy McNamara Romell Quioto, Mauro Manotas, Alberth Elis

Tigres UANL (4-4-2): Nahuel Guzmán; Carlos Salcedo, Jesús Dueñas, Hugo Ayala, Luis Rodríguez; Luis Quiñones (62’ Javier Aquino), Rafael Carioca (86’ Jorge Torres), Guido Pizarro, Julián Quiñones; Enner Valencia, Eduardo Vargas (83’ Lucas Zelarayán)