Houston Dynamo won its first match of the season after beating Portland Timbers 1-0 at Shell Energy Stadium on Saturday night.
The H-Town team needed a victory after losing its previous league home match against NY Red Bulls (1-0) and being eliminated from the Concacaf Champions Cup by the Columbus Crew (2-1 in aggregate). Portland on the other side, wanted to remain undefeated in the year, but they always struggled when they play in Texas soil. This match marked the Timbers’ third consecutive loss against Houston on the road.
The match was pretty even throughout the ninety minutes. The visitors outshouted the Dynamo 17-9, a signed that Portland wanted to get at least a point in Houston. The Orange on the other side, finally had a perfect match in defense. They knew they needed that in order to get the much needed three points.
The goal came in late in the first half. Dynamo’s ‘Coco’ Carrasquilla crossed the ball inside the box where Timber’s defender Juan Mosquera tried to clear the ball. The defender’s effort was short, and Houston’s Ibrahim Aliyu, who always battle in offense, took advantage of the miscue to score the 1-0. This was Aliyu second goal of the season. “I feel confident I can score more goals this season”, he said after the game.
On the second half, the visitors created a few chances to find the equalizer, but the final result remained 1-0 in favor of a Houston team that worked hard in defense for the first win of the season.
“It was a good effort from everyone today. A loss today would have really hurt.” Houston coached Ben Olsen said after the match. “Now we have a full week to prepare for the next game and work on ourself”, he added.
Now, Houston will travel to Colorado to face the Rapids, whereas the Timbers will host the Philadelphia Union. Both matches will take place on Saturday March 23rd.
