Houston Dynamo 1-1 Los Angeles Galaxy
In a great afternoon for futbol, Dynamo kicked off its 15th season as they hosted Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez and the LA Galaxy in H-Town in an exciting 1-1 draw.
Houston dominated much of the match. However, they had a shaky start for the first 15-20 minutes of the match. Galaxy started in a high note. Their high pressure complicated Dynamo’s at midfield and that help the Californian side to create many scoring opportunities.
Argentine Cristian Pavon took advantage of these opportunities and in a counter attack and opened the score at BBVA Stadium at the 13’ with a great shot outside the box to beat Houston goalkeeper Marko Maric.
After the goal, the away team got relaxed and stop pressuring the Orange and that cost them the win. “I think scoring the goal so early was a negative for us”, Hernandez said after match.
Chicharito was held largely silent on his Galaxy debut.
Houston start pressuring the Galaxy and regained the possession of the ball. Something they didn’t loss the rest of the 90 minutes. They create many chances to tie the match, however their final touch was just not there and the partial at the half was 1-0 in favor of the visitors.
The second half, the home team attacked much more than the first one. It was a great game for newcomer Zarek Valentine, who defend and attack from the right side as well as Adam Lundkvist from the left.
Moreover, the big expectations for the MLS debut of forward ‘Chicharito’ Hernadez was shot down by a Dynamo’s Kiki Struna and Maynor Figueroa, who had a great defensive effort. They isolated the Mexican international and gave him a taste of what playing in this league is about.
Even though getting a point for the Orange was a team effort, the man of the match was Mauro Manotas. He started the 2020 season scoring the equalizer after beating LA’s goalkeeper David Bingham to give a well earned point for the Orange.
“I am proud of this team. I think the team made a a really good effort” said coach Tab Ramos, who also debuted in MLS.
Now for the Dynamo is a trip to Kansas City to face SKC whereas the Galaxy will host the Vancouver Whitecaps.
