Photo credit: Houston Dynamo)
“I get by with a little help from my friends” was perhaps the song of the night as poor officiating from head referee Fotis Bazakos helped the Houston Dynamo overcome the New York Red Bulls.
To be fair, the Red Bulls didn’t look keen to hold their own and the Dynamo outplayed a struggling Red Bull side who posted their second consecutive away defeat. Yet, the means with which they won are not without controversy.
New York struck first via the golden foot of none other than Bradley Wright Phillips in the 13th minute. Sacha Kljestan, with his ever keen vision, sent a clever through ball past the Houston defense to find the run of Wright-Phillips, putting him one-on-one against Dynamo keeper Tyler Deric. Wright-Phillips did what he does best by placing the ball past Deric to put the Red Bulls up.
Although the Red Bulls were hopeful early on of grabbing three difficult road points, their fire was quickly extinguished minutes later.
Full back Dylan Remick would equalize just two minutes later from a corner taken by Dynamo midfielder Alex to cancel out New York’s previous effort. This is were things turned into somewhat of a soap opera.
After getting the nod for his first MLS start this season, Red Bull center back Aurelien Collin was forced off the pitch late in the first-half after sustaining an injury making way for Damien Perrinelle. Exactly two minutes later, the Dynamo would be awarded a decisive penalty.
Perrinelle tackled the ball away from forward Mauro Manotas who went down in the Red Bull box. It looked as if Perrinelle had made sufficient contact with the ball before clipping Manotas, yet Bazakos was quick to give the penalty to striker Erick Torres who put the ball past Robles.
A second questionable call would come early in the second half with Houston crowding New York’s box. With numbers forward, the Dynamo made a cutting run past the New York defensive line courtesy of Manotas who managed to fire off a good shot prompting a Robles save. The ball rebounded to the feet of Torres whose volley would have been impressive if not for winger Andrew Wenger’s presence in what looked to be an offside position, obstructing the vision of Robles.
Without the call for offsides, the Dynamo made it 3-1. Torres would grab his hat trick early in stoppage time with a gorgeous free-kick which went over the Red Bulls wall and straight into the back of the net.
Controversial calls or not, the truth is the Red Bulls were outclassed by the Dynamo who deserve praise for Saturday’s performance. New York is still grappling with difficulty getting Kljestan into opportune areas to be the playmaker he has been with him now on the wing. It seems as if the inability to have another player in the center of the field is costing the team in their ability to quickly press for and play second balls.
Jesse Marsch will be feeling as if he is in the hot seat as the Red Bulls play their second consecutive away game on Sunday, April 9th against Orlando City.
Scoring Summary:
13′ RBNY: Bradley Wright-Phillips, assisted by Sacha Kljestan
15′ Dynamo: Dylan Remick, assisted by Alex
41′ Dynamo: Erick Torres, penalty
56′ Dynamo: Erick Torres
90′ Dynamo: Erick Torres
Disciplinary Summary:
28′ RBNY: Connor Lade, yellow
44′ RBNY: Tyler Adams, yellow
70′ Dynamo: Dylan Remick, yellow
87′ Dynamo: Erick Torres, yellow
Starting Lineups:
Dynamo: Deric, Remick, Anibaba, Machado, DeLaGarza, Alex, Alexander, Clark (60′ Garcia), Wenger (64′ Elis), Torres, Manotas (77′ Beasley)
RBNY: Robles, Lawrence, Long, Collin (39′ Perinelle), Lade (56′ Zizzo), Adams, Felipe, Kljestan, Royer (69′ Muyl), Wright-Phillips, Etienne
Houston Dynamo
