Houston Dynamo 3- Los Angeles Galaxy 3
Houston, TX-The Houston Dynamo’s fighting spirit helped them get a late equalizer against the Galaxy to get a 3-3 draw at home to continue their run towards the MLS Cup Playoffs. On the other hand, Sigi Schmid’s side was not able to manage a 3-1 lead as the struggle continues for Los Angeles.
The expectation for this match in Houston were big since the home team needed a win. The last results from Wilmer Cabrera’s side had not been as expected, especially when they leave Texas. And this match didn’t start as plan for the Orange. In the third minute they were already losing due to an own goal by defender DaMarcus Beasley. Only nine minutes later, Romain Alessandrini scored the surprising 2-0 for visiting side.
After the second goal, the West Coast team relaxed the pressure they were placing in the final third and tried to get organized at midfield to control the rhythm of the match. Galaxy’s midfielder Jonathan Dos Santos was in charge of giving equilibrium to his side. However, at times he was outnumbered by Dynamo players in middle, and that was just the beginning of the struggle for Los Angeles.
Houston on the other side, understood the circumstances of the match. They continue their game plan, which was using their speed in the sides to create scoring opportunities. And finally, Tomas Martinez took advantage of one of those many occasions to score for the Dynamo to go to the half with a partial 1-2.
The second half was a copy of the first one. The Galaxy’s game was fast and practical and this helped them to increase their lead at the 47th minute when Bradford Jamieson scored the 3-1 for LA. And even though Gio Dos Santos’ side had a comfortable lead, this was not well managed neither by his coach nor the players.
They let the Dynamo to keep on applying pressure in all parts of the field, which led them to create more opportunities to get back in the game. It’s fair to say, the Dynamo’s determination to get at least one point was crucial for the match. One of the players who battled all night was Albert ‘La Panterita’ Elis. He had many chances to score during the game. One of those chances came in at the 84th minute, when he was fouled inside the box to win and score a penalty kick for the 2-3. From that moment everyone in the stadium new there will be more goals. And sure enough, ‘La Panterita’ scored the 3-3 at the 88th minute to give Houston one point to continue in their battle for a spot in the MLS playoffs.
Now the Dynamo will host the Minnesota United on Saturday, whereas the Galaxy will receive a visit from Real Salt Lake the same day.
Houston Dynamo
