Houston Dynamo have little trouble defeating the Colorado Rapids on the road

This Saturday Houston were on the road to play the Rapids for their only game in Colorado this season. Houston were hoping to continue riding a wave of scoring success from Memo Rodriguez while the Rapids were just hoping to get their first win of the season. It was the Memo-hype train that won the battle.

The Dynamo took an early lead thanks to Alberth Elis - Rodriguez connection. Rodriguez received the ball at midfield before turning to make a run down field towards goal. He passed the ball to a running Elis and once Rodriguez made his way into the box Elis pass the ball forward to him. Memo only needed one shot to put the ball past goal keeper Tim Howard only four minutes into the game.

Minutes later the Dynamo doubled their lead thanks to some help from the Rapids. It looked like Mauro Manotas had put away a ball from Elis but instead it was ruled an own goal as defender Axel Sjoberg was ruled to have gotten a foot on the ball first. By the fifteen minute the Dynamo had a 2-0 lead.

In the 34th minute the Rapids once again helped to extend the Dynamo lead. This time it was Keegan Rosenberry who put in a cross from Elis. The goal made 3-0 in the Dynamo’s favor before the half time whistle even blew.

When it did blow the stats showed that the Rapids dominated in possession and got of eight shots to Houston’s three. Houston was able to find space on the wings and use it to their advantage when they did get the ball, or at least when Elis got the ball as he had three assists in the first half alone.

While it took longer for them to find a goal in the second half than it did in the first the Dynamo found the net against in the second half. After getting three assists in the first half Elis finally got a goal of his own in the 67th minute of the game. Mauro Manotas was the man who got him the ball as Elis ran into the box after a big effort from Tomas Martinez to keep the ball in bounds and keep the play alive.

A handball was called against Houston after Maynor Figueroa touched the ball in the box. Kei Kamara took the penalty kick for Colorado and sent the ball to his right as Joe Willis dove the other direction. The goal ended their shut out but still left them down three goals with nine minutes left in the game.

After a VAR review Colorado’s Tommy Smith was issued a red card after kicking his legs from behind on AJ DeLaGarza. The red came in the 89th minute which left the Rapids down to 10 men for the last minute of regulation plus the five minutes of stoppage time.

Tommy McNamara found the net for the Dynamo during stoppage time but it was called back due to an offside goal. Even with that goal called back Houston was set with a huge 4-1 road win.

The Rapids dominated in shots as well finished the game with the lion’s share of possession. They had 20 shots in the game to Houston’s 10, but the final score line was what mattered. Houston historically struggles on the road and haven’t won a road game in Colorado in a long time. While this Rapids side still doesn’t have a win this season the three points could go a long way to building up Houston’s confidence for road games this season.

The Dynamo don’t play against until April 13 when they host the San Jose Earthquakes.

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