Houston Dynamo unable to come back in loss to CF Montréal

Houston Dynamo FC were hoping to get out of a losing slump, this time returning back to PNC Stadium to take on CF Montréal who have had an up and down in the recent weeks, despite a promising position in the standings. Despite getting the early lead, Houston succumbed to a 3-2 loss to the visiting CF Montreal,

Early into the match we saw some back and forth action with the game moving relatively quickly. A through ball saw Montreal have an early opportunity, but Dynamo goalkeeper Steve Clark was alert to get to the ball to end the danger. Houston had a few chances as well with Darwin Quintero trying to play Fafà Picault through, but the ball was caught out.

Despite a 70/30 possession advantage, Montreal would end up conceding the first goal to give the home side the lead. Following a set piece situation that saw Héctor Herrera play a brilliant long ball over the top to Sebastián Ferreira, Sebas took the ball and knocked it over the top of his defender before taking his shot and making it 1-0.

Montreal wasn’t willing to settle for an early deficit as they were able to equalize not long after with Djordje Mihailovic drew a penalty following a silly foul by Steve Clark. Former Dynamo player Romell Quioto stepped up to the spot and cleanly delivered the equalizer to make it 1-1.

The visitors weren’t done though following a lot of poor clearing of a ball by the Dynamo, Samuel Piette delivered a great pass to Alistair Johnston who put it through the legs of Herrera and back post to make it 2-1 Montreal.

However, the action wasn’t over with Houston coming back following a brilliant cross by Memo Rodríguez. Memo perfectly picked out the darting run of Daniel Steres to level the game to 2-2.

The drama continued with a controversial penalty awarded to Montreal. A hand ball by Memo who was falling down and the ball bounced into contact with eventually gave Romell Quioto another shot to take the lead. However, “ball don’t lie” as they say, and Quioto’s shot flew over the crossbar.

Early into the second half, Houston had a golden chance to take the lead. Sebas Ferreira took a pass and had a great turn on his defender to set him up on goal. His shot however, would strike the top of the upright post to keep the game level.

Montreal continued their pressure in their away visit with a goal to take the lead again. Incredible 1v1 dribbling by Lassi Lappalainen saw him juke the defenders and set himself up with a low far post goal. The diving effort by Clark wasn’t enough, but was hardly his fault with the good step to break free of the defense.

Following 90 minutes and stoppage time the visiting Montreal would come away the victors of an entertaining 3-2 win, Houston simply didn’t do enough against a better team, but they showed improvement from previous fixtures.

The Dynamo will be back in action next week as they go back on the road, this time to the Rocky Mountain state to take on the Colorado Rapids, Saturday, August 20^th, at 8:00 PM CT.

Goals:

12’ HOU: Sebastián Ferreira (assisted by Héctor Herrera)

15’ MTL: Romell Quioto (penalty kick)

28’ MTL: Alistair Johnston (assisted by Samuel Piette)

36’ HOU: Daniel Steres (assisted by Memo Rodríguez)

69’ MTL: Lassi Lappalainen (assisted by Joaquín Torres)

Disciplinary:

63’ MTL: Gabriele Corbo (yellow card)

67’ MTL: Alistair Johnston ( yellow card)

71’ MTL: Romell Quioto (yellow card)

80’ HOU: Micaell (yellow card)

86’ HOU: Adalberto “Coco” Carrasquilla (yellow card)

Lineups:

Houston Dynamo:

HT Micael on, Memo Rodríguez

70’ Adam Lundkvist on, Sam Junqua off

70’ Griffin Dorsey on, Zarek Valentin off

84’ Thorleifur Úlfarsson on Fafà Picault off

84’ Corey Baird on, Darwin Quintero off

CF Montréal

HT Joaquín Torres on, Ismaël Koné off

59’ Zachary Brault-Guillard on, Rudy Camcho off

77’ Kei Kamara on, Romel Quioto off

78’ Victor Wanyama on, Mathieu Choinière off

78’ Róbert Orri Þorkelsson on, Lassi Lappalainen off