Houston Dynamo 1-Real Salt Lake 1
The Houston Dynamo might be thinking more on their next match against Liga MX Tigres for the Concacaf Champions League than in MLS now, tied against a dangerous Real Salt Lake on Saturday night
This 2019 MLS season kicked off in Texas with two teams that are serious contenders to qualify to the MLS Cup playoffs. Also, this was a special evening for RSL since it was the beginning of the last season for the legendary goalkeeper Nick Rimando, who announced he will be retiring at the end of the year.
The match was a battle from the start to finish. Real Salt Lake took advantage of the rotations Houston’s coach Cabrera did, especially in defense and midfield. The staring line up presented by Houston included three players that will mostly be used coming from the bench this year. Also, Bonniek Garcia started in this match, taking the place of Juan David Cabezas, who did not play for the second match in a row. Houston’s front was as usual, but besides Mauro Manotas, the other three (Albert Elis, Tomas Martinez, and Romell Quioto) have been a little off their game.
On the other hand, RSL used their speed and good ball distribution to hurt the Dynamo. Jefferson Savarino, Albert Rusnak, and Corey Baird all had a very good match. This was in addition to the solid defensive game that an experienced player such as Kyle Beckerman gives this Utah team.
Taking all this in consideration, the match was very well fought. Both teams created some chances to score but they were not able to open the score until the 40th minute when Rusnak found a ball and put it in the net beating Dynamo goalkeeper Joe Willis.
The 0-1 score changed things for Houston, which needed to come up stronger in the second half. Out of the few chances the home team had to score, Mauro Manotas, who just signed as an extension with the club, tied everything up in the 62nd minute. Houston at that time was controlling the actions, however, after Matias Vera saw a red card, Cabrera moved things up to order his squad and not risking much after that.
At the end, a 1-1 draw was a fair result for both clubs. Now Houston will have next their CONCACAF Champions League match on Tuesday night. In terms of league play they will host the Montreal Impact on Saturday. RSL will open its home schedule the same day against the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Houston Dynamo
