Houston Dynamo 3- Los Angeles Galaxy 2
Take the lead early, struggle in the final minutes. That has seemed like the story of the Houston Dynamo in 2018 with the side losing points in the last minutes of their matches. However, the result this time was a bit different as Memo Rodriguez lifted the Dynamo 3-3-2, 11 points) late to a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy (3-5-1, 10 points).
The match was controlled by the Dynamo who were solid in the midfield. The early goal helped them to be more confident. They used a fast and dynamic attack which started at midfield. This helped them to create many scoring opportunities, which were not successfully finished. As in previous matches Dynamo coach Wilmer Cabrera used Mauro Manotas, Romell Quioto, and Alberth Elis up top. This strategy pushed back a Galaxy team which was busy in the defensive side and used to long balls to reach a solitary Zlatan.
The best player in the Galaxy attack was Romain Alessandrini. He created some chances for the visitors to tie the score. Mexican Giovani Dos Santos struggled to connect to Ibrahimovic. However, he levelled the match at 1-1 in the 39th minute after Zlatan’s shot was blocked by Dynamo’s goalkeeper Joe Willis.
At the start of the second half, the Houston Dynamo came out aggressive. That change in attitude paid off as Quioto gave the lead again to the home team.
Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid made a huge error in substituting Alessandrini for Jonathan Dos Santos. This was a defensive move by a team that needed to attack. The substitution created a solid midfield, but LA was not creating opportunities to tied up the score.
It was until the 85th minute that Ola Kamara scored the equalizer for the away team after a great played by Ibrahimovic at midfield.
Houston struggled to hold on to results in their last matches. They lost two points in their visit to DC United and lost the match last weekend against Minnesota after being up in both games. So, this was something the team has seen. Fans, who supported the team throughout the match, were disappointing of the team losing important points against a conference rival, but they were ecstatic when Houston’s Memo Rodriguez, who came from the bench, scored the final 3-2 at the 90th minute.
With the win the Dynamo are now in sixth place in the West with 11 points. On the other side the Galaxy is on 8th place with only 10 points after nine matches. Next for Los Angeles is another visit to Texas, but this time to play against FC Dallas on May 12th, while Houston will travel across the border to face Vancouver on May 11th.
Editor’s Note: All photos are courtesy of Jose Castellanos
Houston Dynamo
