Breakfast Links - April 11, 2022

There was plenty of anticipation heading into this weekend all the way across the board. We appreciate you spending your Monday morning (insert routine) with us and without further delay, let’s dive right in.

Houston

The Houston Dynamo were back home at PNC stadium to face off with the San Jose Earthquakes and what a night it was! In a game that had a little bit of everything, the Houston Dynamo were able to get all 3 points despite the fight that was shown by the Quakes. The ability for the Houston Dynamo to take a hit and never give up is inspiring to see this early in the season. It wasn’t perfect by any means but we saw the guys come together as a team and get it done. Finally, the moment we have all been waiting for, Sebas Ferreira has officially opened his account with a beautiful Se-brace. This also lifts the immense weight I’m sure he was feeling to produce. We also got to see Teenage Hadebe and his first ever MLS goal and what an excellent reward for all the hard work he has put in so far, he’s been excellent. Darwin Quintero, another class outing from the early season MVP with his 4th goal of the season. Fafa and Tyler Pasher with the speed on the wings, found themselves in dangerous positions asking the right questions all night long. Overall, it was a great night at PNC stadium that was really exciting to watch and had 7 total goals scored. That and seeing the Dynamo extend their unbeaten streak to 4 games and move up to the 6th place in the West. We are back at it this Saturday April 16th at home against the Portland Timbers and I hope to see you all out there!

The Houston Dash are currently enjoying their international break and will return to action this Friday April 15, 2022. They will face off against the Kansas City Current at the Field of Legends in Kansas City, Kansas at 7 PM central. The Dash have scored 4 goals in their last 5 games and the Current have scored 6 in their last 5 games. The Dash fell to 0-3 when these two faced each other on March 30, 2022. Both teams will be looking to gain some momentum as they finish up the NWSL Challenge Cup in the next few weeks and fine tune those rosters for the regular season opener. The start of the NWSL season is just around the corner, starting Sunday May 1, 2022 for the Dash.

Houston Dynamo 2 remain unbeaten to start the season as they dominated Sporting Kansas City II Sunday night, 3-0. This was another exciting game where Dynamo 2 were beaten on the possession front but continued to find a way to make life difficult for opponents in transition. They run that counter attack very well and get forward with quality and pace. Houston Dynamo 2 are the only team to have a perfect record through the young season and also are the only team to maintain clean sheets in each of their first 3 games. Beto Avila was the star of the show in this one, bagging not only his first goals on the season but finishing with an impressive hat trick to boot. Papa N’Doye is a constant thorn in the side for all opposing defenders and he will be really fun to watch along with the rest of these youngsters this season. They are back in action on Saturday, April 16 at PNC Stadium in a double-header with the first team.

MLS

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

EL TRAFICO! You didn’t need to be a fan of either team to enjoy this classic, in fact having no bias may have made it a little easier to stomach that last second finish, or lack thereof. Full of class, throw in a hint of controversy, and you have yourself a timeless El Trafico match in the making. What can I say, Chicharito doing Chicharito things with a beautiful header in the 13th minute to give the Galaxy the lead. LAFC and Carlos Vela did have their chances though as Vela missed off the post in the 23rd minute that would have tied things up. Luck just wasn’t on his side this day and Vela yet again would have another chance slip through his fingers when his headed goal was disallowed in the 28th for being offside. If all of that wasn’t enough there were 8 minutes of extra time and just as the 98th began to roll through, Latif Blessing had his goal disallowed at the absolute death. This was a match full of excitement and a little bit of everything as the two battled it out at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday evening.

Elsewhere around the league, Gonzalo Higuain was scratched from the starting lineup for Inter Miami CF with an injury and Leonardo Campana started up top in his place and filled those shoes without issue against the New England Revolution becoming the first player in Inter Miami CF history to collect a hat trick.

Austin FC ended up pulling out a 1-0 win Sunday evening over Minnesota FC, so all 3 Texas MLS teams are tied with 11 points on the season so far. Austin, Dallas and Houston sit at 4, 5 and 6 in the Western Conference standings respectively.

Around the World

There are some title races worth mentioning, so let’s take a look at some of the headlines from around the World this weekend.

In one of the most anticipated EPL matches of the year, Man City played against Liverpool in a battle with extreme title implications. Raheem Sterling thought he had given City the lead later in the game but the goal was disallowed and neither team were able to push another goal across the line and ended in a 2-2 draw, each taking a vital point. Only 1 point separates the two now with 7 games remaining. Will City buckle down and take the title they thought they had shored up quite some time ago or will Liverpool, Sadio Mane and Mo Salah complete their furious comeback in historic fashion?

Everton are currently in a huge relegation fight and they managed to stave off defeat and collect all 3 points on the back of Anthony Gordon’s goal in the 27th minute against Manchester United on Saturday morning. Everton have only been relegated twice in their history and not since the 1950-1951 season. That pivotal win has them currently 4 points above the relegation zone with one game in hand and 8 total games remaining for them. It’s going to be an exciting finish for the EPL this year.

The prodigal Son strikes again as Heung-Min Son bagged a hat trick to help spur Tottenham to a convincing 4-0 win against Aston Villa. With that win the Spurs have a combined 57 points affixed to that number 4 spot they want for a return the Champions League next season. Also, with 7 games remaining they will look to hold on to that spot. However, Arsenal being on a hot streak of their own recently minus their defeat to Brighton this weekend, hope to spoil the party as they are 3 points behind the 4th spot with 54 points.

The news we are all saddened to hear is that Gio Reyna reinjured himself in the 6th minute of Dortmund’s match against VFB Stuttgart and we all are wishing him a speedy recovery. You can’t help but feel for the kid as his disappointment is palpable and regardless of his world class skill, he just cant catch a break and hopefully he can get all the way healed up before the USMNT World Cup matches roll around.