Breakfast Links - September 5, 2022

Happy Labor Day. Another exciting week is in the books and we are full steam ahead with the Dynamo having five matches left in the season. The Dash are looking to push for the playoffs and Dynamo 2 clinched a playoff spot on Saturday night. Whether in the press box, the stands, the press conferences or on the sidelines, we hold it down and strive to bring you the best coverage around. We appreciate you following along, let’s take a look at some of the happenings from this weekend.

Houston

The Houston Dynamo dropped another match late on the road, 2-1 against the Seattle Sounders. The Dynamo took the early lead on a shot by Coco Carrasquilla that was smartly redirected into the net by Daniel Steres for his 2nd goal of the season. The Dynamo lacked the ability to finish the match and saw Seattle score in the 59th and 76th minutes to seal the Dynamo’s fate. The loss has the Dynamo back in last place in the Western Conference with 29 points. We saw more promising play from the 20-year-old Nelson Quinones and a special moment with Brooklyn Raines making his MLS debut, putting in a solid 34 minute shift. Help yourself to a great recap of a sour result.

The Houston Dash had the week off and will be back in action at home on September 11th at 6 PM against Angel City FC. The Dash are looking to take history into their own hands and secure their first ever playoff spot. The Dash are currently in 2nd place with 29 points, tied with Kansas City Current. The only concern being, first to seventh place are extremely close and these last few matches are extremely pivotal to get maximum points. San Diego are in 1st with 31 points, Dash in 2nd with 29, Kansas City in 3rd with 29, Portland Thorns in 4th with 28, OL Reign in 5th with 27, Chicago in 6th with 26, and Angel City in 7th with 25 points. Also, third to sixth place have a game in hand and Angel City have two in hand on the Dash. Some positional shifting will come into play as the regular season winds down and it is hard to tell which teams will be able to nail down that coveted playoff spot. Regardless of the frantic photo finish, the Dash are chasing history.

Houston Dynamo 2 put forth an amazing team effort and snagged the most important 3 points of the season against a very solid St Louis City 2 squad. The W on Saturday night clinched their playoff spot in glorious fashion and Dynamo 2 will take the fight to the postseason. On a night that was rain soaked, Dynamo 2 came together and protected their box very well and kept the extremely important clean sheet. That’s a huge ask considering St Louis City’s talent level and Dynamo 2 continue to be one of the most dangerous teams in the league with depth to match. The only goal of this match came from a beautiful header in the 58th minute by Mujeeb Murana and that is all Dynamo 2 would need to edge out this extremely important win. We will have a full match recap with our Dynamo 2sday article on Tuesday and I encourage everyone to go check it out. This squad is a lot of fun, and they play for each other like one big family. You can see what it means to them, and the leadership group does an excellent job.

Major League Soccer

FC Dallas dominated Minnesota United and ended their run of strong play with a 3-0 win on Saturday afternoon. Dallas saw all 3 goals come between the 55th and 58th minute. An own goal in the 55th from Michael Boxall, a 56th minute goal from Alan Velasco, and the 3rd from Jesus Ferreria in the 58th minute sealed the win. That win has massive implications as far as the standings go, FCD now sit in 3rd with 46 points, surpassing Minnesota who are now in 5th with 44 points.

Austin FC has been on fire as of late, but they were dealt with on the road with ease on Saturday when Nashville SC decimated them 3-0. Walker Zimmerman opened the scoring in the 49th minute with a screaming glancing header from a corner and Brad Stuver never stood a chance. Hany Mukhtar put 2 nails in the coffin with a late brace (82nd and 90+1 minute) and now leads MLS in scoring with 21 goals and 7 assists on the season. With the win, Nashville jump up the standings into 4th in the Western Conference with 45 points. Austin FC stay in 2nd behind LAFC with 51 points.

Philadelphia Union took care of business on the road as they beat the New York Red Bulls 2-0. The match saw goals from Mikael Uhre in the 48th minute and Dainel Gazdag in the 74th. Gazdag is now 3rd in the league in scoring with 18 goals. Red Bulls midfielder Dru Yearwood fired a ball into the stands in frustration near the end of the match and it struck some young supporters, which led to his removal from the contest when the ref gave a 2nd yellow for the offense.

Around The World

Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Manchester United took another huge step in the right direction as they beat Arsenal on Sunday morning 3-1. Antony was one of several highly rated moves this summer for the Red Devils, coming over from Ajax (along with Erik ten Hag) in a deal worth north of 100 million dollars. It didn’t take long for it to pay dividends and electrify an entire fanbase with glee. Antony got on the end of a perfectly weighted ball in the box from Marcus Rashford and buried it with all the confidence in the world. The fans were sent into football heaven and pure elation as Antony sprinted toward the end line in a celebratory fashion, thumping the badge on his chest. Antony is the 9th Brazilian to take the pitch for the Red Devils and became the youngest Brazilian to score in his Premier League debut for any team. Marcus Rashford also looked rejuvenated with a brilliant brace and an assist to go along with it. United will look to keep it going after delivering Arsenal their 1st loss of the season. Arsenal did have their chances in the match regardless, and still sit in 1st place after a strong start.

Manchester City had a chance to take over 1st place this weekend but drew with Aston Villa 1-1 in what turned out to be a great watch for the neutral. The most dangerous player on the planet struck again and this is going to be a reoccurring theme so I might just make a template. Erling Haaland scored his league leading 10th goal of the season and Leon Bailey evened the match in the 74th for Aston Villa. Manchester City take on Sevilla in Champions League play on Tuesday and are back to league play on Saturday against Tottenham. Aston Villa get a much needed get right match on Saturday against Leicester City, who have had the worst start in the league.