Houston Dynamo players celebrate after David Horst’s opening goal in the 6th minute of the match against rivals FC Dallas on March 13, 2016 at BBVA Compass Stadium. Victor Araiza / Prost Amerika
HOUSTON – The Houston Dynamo faithful waited a long time for this win. The players on the field couldn’t have rewarded them better.
A 5-nil victory broke a seven game losing streak in the Texas Derby for Houston Dynamo (five regular season, two U.S. Open Cup) and, more importantly, gave Houston its first three points of the season.
“We’re a different team from what we were last year,” said Houston Dynamo Head Coach Owen Coyle during his postgame press conference. “FC Dallas did very well against us last year, and that hurt us, we were wounded by that, I make no excuses about that. I think tonight we showed our class.”
Six minutes in, David Horst headed in a cross from Andrew Wenger to give the Houston Dynamo a 1-nil lead. The “Men in Orange,” would never look back. An own goal by Matt Hedges, the 2015 MLS Defender of the Year, were followed by goals from Ricardo Clark and Andrew Wenger to hand the Dynamo a strong lead in only the 27th minute of the match. Will Bruin delivered the fifth goal in the 85th minute.
5-NIL #HOUvDAL #TexasDerby #MLS pic.twitter.com/pNCoFWkfah
— Victor Araiza (@victoraraiza) March 13, 2016
“We’ve said from day one that we’re going to be an exciting team, that we’re going to be a disciplined team,” said Houston Dynamo Defender David Horst. “It says a lot about us going forward from here, we have to keep that confidence going forward.”
The Houston Dynamo, however, did not come out of this match unscathed. Team captain Giles Barnes, who played a key in forcing the own goal, left in the 19th minute due to a hamstring strain. Midfielder Cristian Maidana left in the 44th minute with a head wound. No update on their condition has been released.
Fabian Castillo was ruled out earlier in the week for Saturday’s game but recovered in time to make the starting lineup. FC Dallas, however, could not find any rhythm even with their talented midfielder. Victor Araiza / Prost Amerika.
For FC Dallas, a team that finished with a 5-8-4 road record in 2015, this is not the way they wanted to start their 2016 road campaign. FCD finished top of the Western Conference and runner-up (decided on a tie-breaker) for the MLS Supporters’ Shield in 2015 despite their poor form on the road.
“I want to remark the commitment and the conviction that I have over this young group,” were the comments made by FC Dallas Head Coach Oscar Pareja in his postgame presser. “It will never be an excuse for us to be young. I am convinced that this project is the project that I want to be involved with, those are my players, those are the players that I trust.”
FC Dallas presented the youngest starting 11 on opening day, just last week, and that youth showed on Saturday. From the first minute, BBVA Compass Stadium was rocking and as the game went on, and the goals poured in, you could see the crowd noise was a difference maker.
This place is ROCKIN’!!!!
Houston Dynamo 3-0 FC Dallas at 22 mins into the match. #HOUvDAL #TexasDerby pic.twitter.com/LSEnOiVM7f— Victor Araiza (@victoraraiza) March 13, 2016
Don’t think so? FC Dallas won the previous two regular season games of the Texas Derby at BBVA Compass Stadium, both by a score of 4-1. The last Dynamo victory at BBVA? A 2-1 victory in 2012, the Dynamo’s first season in the new stadium when virtually every game was a sellout.
There will be two more matches in the Texas Derby during the 2016 MLS regular season. The next one will be June 2nd at Toyota Stadium in Frisco followed by an August 27th encounter at BBVA Compass Stadium.
Next for the Houston Dynamo, a trip to Harrison, NJ to face the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, March 19 (7:00 p.m. ET kickoff). FC Dallas will return to Toyota Stadium to host the Montreal Impact on the same night, 8:00 pm. CT kickoff.
