Dynamo finish 2022 season with 3-1 home loss to LA Galaxy

The Houston Dynamo FC finished up the 2022 Major League Soccer season at home on Sunday afternoon with the LA Galaxy in town. Houston took an early lead through Sebas Ferreira put two goals in two minutes put LA ahead and a third goal in the second half saw the visitors come away 3-1 winners.

Houston opened the scoring just eight minutes in after a great bit of play. Tim Parker stepped up to win a ball near midfield and right back Griffin Dorsey drove forward into the attack. Dorsey laid a pass off for Corey Baird who lofted a cross right to the penalty spot. Sebas Ferreira met the ball in the air and headed past Galaxy goalkeeper Jonathan Bond to give the Dynamo the lead. Ferreria sprinted to the stands and jumped into section 102 to celebrate but did not receive a yellow card. The 13th goal of the season for Sebas tied Hector Villalba for the most goals in a single season in MLS by a Paraguayan.

The visitors looked to equalize in the 18th minute after a series of corner kicks. Chicharito and a number of Dynamo players were mixing it up in the box, which lead to a yellow card for the Galaxy striker. The Mexican star got a chance off the corner, but was unable to steer the ball on goal from just yards away at the backpost. Chicharito got another chance in the 23rd, getting behind the Houston defense, but his shot caromed off the outside of the post.

LA took the lead with two goals in two minutes. The Galaxy got their equalizer in the 31st minute from their new Spanish star and took the lead in the 32nd with a Chicharito strike. The visitors broke on their left side through Grandsir and the ball was squared into the box to a wide open Riqui Puig at the penalty spot. The Spaniard made no mistake, blasting a shot past Steve Clark.

The Galaxy took the lead seconds later after the kickoff. Ethan Bartlow got pulled forward, leaving space for Chicharito to run in behind. The Mexican got 1 on 1 with Clark and slotted the shot into the far post to put LA in front.

The Dynamo were denied an equalizer after 41 minutes on a nice double save by Bond. Darwin Quintero slipped Sebas in but Bond stuck a foot out to save the shot. The rebound fell to Dorsey and the Galaxy keeper quickly jumped back on his feet to palm away that effort as well. Just a minute later Quintero got space in the box for a shot but it was blocked on the way to goal.

Substitute Dejan Joveljic put the nail in the coffin after scoring in the 70th minute to put the Galaxy ahead 3-1. Two substitutes combined as Joveljic played the ball to Efrain Alvarez and received the ball back from a one two. The Serbian was all alone in front of Clark’s goal and poked the ball into seal all three points for the visitors.

The loss wraps up a disappointing season for the Dynamo that saw their first year head coach fired and the team finish near the bottom of the Western Conference. The good news? The offseason starts tomorrow.

Goals:

8’ HOU: Sebastián Ferreira (assisted by Corey Baird)

31’ LAG: Riqui Puig (assisted by Samuel Grandsir)

32’ LAG: Chicharito Hernandez (assisted by Gaston Brugman)

70’ LAG: Dejan Joveljic (assisted by Efrain Alvarez)

Disciplinary:

17’ LAG: Javier Hernandez (yellow card; dissent)

61’ LAG: Julian Araujo (yellow card; foul)

78’ HOU: Tim Parker (yellow card; foul)

90+3’ HOU: Memo Rodriguez (yellow card; foul)

Lineups:

Houston Dynamo:

61’ Héctor Herrera on, Darwin Quintero off

61’ Memo Rodriguez on, Corey Baird off

77’ Nelson Quinones on, Matias Vera off

88’ Thor Ulfarsson on, Sebastian Ferreira off

LA Galaxy:

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66’ Efrain Alvarez on, Douglas Costa off

66’ Dejan Joveljic on, Javier Hernandez off

73’ Kevin Cabral on, Samuel Grandsir off

73’ Victor Vazquez on, Marky Delgado off

77’ Chase Gasper on, Raheem Edwards off