Dynamo show off their strength by beating down the Red Bulls

After a rough month that saw the Houston Dynamo end their US Open Cup run and end up on a three-game losing streak, the men in orange were glad to be home and glad for a new month to begin. This was more than evident by the team’s aggressiveness in their match against the New York Red Bulls as the Dynamo prevailed 4-0.

With international play over for Dynamo players, head coach Wilmer Cabrera was able to use everyone at his disposal for this game. He inserted Alberth Elis and Maynor Figueroa into the starting lineup. Mauro Manotas also finally got the start after coming off the bench for multiple games recently.

Right from the gate, the Dynamo started attacking early getting opportunities in the box but simply not getting any on goal. The team controlled pace the entire time with 69% possession all throughout the first half, however the Dynamo’s first five shots were all off target.

As for the Red Bulls, though the team did not possess the ball much, the chances were there. New York had three shots in the first half, including this one off the counter.

All was pretty tame until Manotas finally got the scoring started in the 39th minute. Elis received the ball on the wing and started dancing his way into the box where he got some daylight. Elis put a beautiful low cross right in front of the New York keeper right onto the foot of Manotas into the back of the net.

Dynamo did not let up in the second half, changing course from what we’ve seen recently. Tomas Martinez came out from halftime aggressively with a laser in the 55th minute that hit the crossbar. Shortly afterwards, he would not be denied. Off of a turned away corner, Martinez gathered the ball outside the box and sent a shot to the right side of goal past the outstretched arms of Luis Robles.

The Red Bulls tried to get back in the game. The ball stayed at the New York side of the field for a good 15 minutes afterwards and three shots were fired including one from Andreas Ivan that made Joe Willis work.

All that effort from the Red Bulls was in vain after Alberth Elis, after missing a couple header opportunities, finally got his forehead on one to increase the lead to three.

After the third goal, both teams were ready to pack up and leave. The game saw a good amount of one on one battles including one from New York’s Alejandro Romero “Kaku” Gamarra that was blocked.

Alberth Elis once again got the best of all the one on one battles as he took the entire New York back line on by himself and scored with a low strike that was partially blocked by Robles but not blocked enough.

The end of the game got a bit chippy. Michael Murillo was shown his second yellow card in the 83rd to send him home, then in the 94th, both Kaku and Maynor Figueroa were sent home with reds. The game ended with three players ejected and quite the bit of confusion.

One thing that was not confusing however, was the victor of this match. The Dynamo dominated this game from start to finish and proved to themselves, the league and the fans just how fun and dangerous this team can be.

Goals:

39’ HOU: Mauro Manotas (assisted by Alberth Elis)

56’ HOU: Tomás Martínez

72’ HOU: Alberth Elis (assisted by Romell Quioto)

93’ HOU: Alberth Elis

Disciplinary:

41’ HOU: Romell Quioto (yellow card)

44’ NYRB: Michael Murillo (yellow card)

63’ NYRB: Kyle Duncan (yellow card)

68’ NYRB: Cristian Cásseres (yellow card)

70’ HOU: AJ DeLaGarza (yellow card)

83’ NYRB: Michael Murillo (red card)

94’ NYRB: Alejandro Romero Gamarra (red card)

94’ HOU: Maynor Figueroa (red card)

Lineups:

Houston Dynamo (4-2-3-1): Joe Willis; Adam Lundkvist, Maynor Figueroa, Kiki Struna, AJ DeLaGarza ; Boniek García (86’ Tommy McNamara), Matías Vera; Romell Quioto (76’ Juan Cabezas), Tomás Martínez (88’ Michael Salazar), Alberth Elis; Mauro Manotas

San Jose Earthquakes (4-2-3-1): Luis Robles; Connor Lade, Amro Tarek, Michael Murillo, Kyle Duncan; Cristian Cásseres, Sean Davis (67’ Daniel Royer); Andreas Ivan, Brian White, Alex Muyl (58’ Alejandro Romero Gamarra); Tom Barlow (73’ Bradley Wright-Phillips)