It did not take long for the fireworks to begin for Houston. Forward Romell Quioto in the 2nd minute of the game blasted a rocket to the back of the net and put Houston Dynamo out front 1-0. The next best scoring opportunity for either team came in the 10th minute, as Crew midfielder Artur missed to the left on an assist from defender Harrison Afful. Houston Dynamo continued the pace of play, and the aggressiveness they showed against Seattle Sounders, continuing to push the ball into the box. After a delay in the game for Dynamo forward Erick Torres injury, the tide seemed to shift a tiny bit, as Columbus Crew would get 4 shots off in Houston Dynamo’s side of the field. The tide would shift back over to Houston, as Goalkeeper Tyler Deric would make two consecutive breathtaking saves. Dynamo just kept on coming when a corner kick assisted by Houston’s midfielder Alex was headed into the net by forward Alberth Elis to stretch Houston’s lead to 2-0. Houston had scored on each of the two shots the team took in the first 45 minutes. Going into the halftime, Houston Dynamo had the momentum and the lead 2-0. The players from Columbus ended up having a meeting at midfield before heading into their locker room.
The second half continued the same way the first half ended. Houston kept attacking and sending passes into the box for goal opportunities. Houston attempted a few shots that missed a few inches over the net. However, both defenses would toughen up. The rain began to fall again making the field and the ball very slick for the two teams. After a few minutes of tough defense, Erick (Cubo) Torres continued the scoring for the Dynamo, striking a picture perfect kick from the center of the box into the top right of the net making it 3-0 Dynamo. Columbus knew that they needed to make something happen to stay in this match. Crew started to be a lot more physical, which led to a lot more chances within the box that they just seemed to unable to capitalize on. To cap off a horrible day at the office for Columbus Crew, defender Jonathan Mensah’s day was finished early as he scored a red card in the 86th minute. In the 89th minute, the crowd started to realize the game was just about over, and their Houston Dynamo. However, Crew was not done fighting in the 93rd minute forward Ola Kamara connected with a beautiful cross from midfielder Justin Meram to get the point on the board. The game would end after 3 minutes of extra time, as the Dynamo end up victorious 3-1 over Columbus Crew SC.
After the match, head coach of Houston Dynamo, Wilmer Cabrera, had some encouraging words to say about the game but disliked how his team played after they scored their third goal. “If we would’ve kept playing our game after that third goal we would’ve scored again, but we got relaxed, we got lazy, and just didn’t stick to the game plan like we practiced”, said Cabrera. When asked about if the team is confident Cabrera replied “I hope not. I hope we never get confident. I want us to stay hungry and play our game. If we do that then we should earn a lot more wins this year”. Have to love that coming from a brand new coach coming to a team that disappointed many fans last season.
In conclusion, this game honestly wasn’t even close from the start. Houston jumped on Columbus Crew from the opening kick, and didn’t let up until the closing minutes of the game. Was my prediction of a 2-1 score accurate? Unfortunately, no. Dynamo spanked Columbus. Next week Dynamo are in Portland at Providence Park to face a tough Timbers team that put a lashing on the newest MLS expansion team Minnesota United FC 5-1. I will be back with my weekly recap on Thursday. Have a great week everyone. Forever Orange!
