Seattle Sounders took a visit down to the gulf visiting Houston Dynamo on a rainy Saturday night which saw the Dynamo win a hard fought 2-1 game over Seattle to open MLS play for the season.Here is a look into 3 keys from the game…
No one expected Houston to get the win Saturday night. But the match showed how you shouldn’t always put too much stock into predictions as the Dynamo came out running. Literally, in the first half and throughout the game the Dynamo’s new Honduran winger combo, Alberth Elis and Romell Quioto punished Seattle’s flanks. The first half saw a clear domination by the Dynamo as Erick Torres managed to finally score for Houston off a freekick in the 20th minute. Followed by Romell Quioto’s curling shot over Frei in the 42nd minute.
Meanwhile the second half was a different story that saw Seattle dominate and have Houston on their heels. Clint Dempsey, who returned from his heart problems from last season, put the Sounders back in the match in the 58th minute after finally slotting in one Joevin Jones’s many crosses from the left flank.
In the end, the Dynamo held onto the lead after Seattle’s onslaught in the second half. Last season many would have predicted the Dynamo to lose the lead late in that match but things maybe different with Coach Cabrera at the helm. This continues Seattle’s road woes in Houston as they have only recorded a record of what is now 4 losses and 4 draws in Houston.
1. Dynamo Forward Trident
Houston made some moves this offseason which already came to fruition in the first match of the season. A move to the 4-3-3 formation by Wilmer Cabrera saw the Dynamo add 2 very pacey wingers from Honduras by the names of Elis and Quioto. Paired with what seems like a brand new signing in the rebirth of Erick “Cubo” Torres, the Dynamo might just have the most dangerous forward trident in the league. The start of the game saw Alberth Elis and Romell Quioto staying wide and high to stretch Seattle’s backline. Svensson and Jones had trouble with the winger’s pace coupled with Cubo Torres’s movement. Cubo’s movement led to yellow cards for both Marshall and Roman Torres eventually giving way to Cubo Torres’s free kick goal as well. Could this trio be MLS’s version of MSN from La Liga?
2. Seattle Finishing Woes and Joevin Jones
Although Saturday’s match did see Houston come out with 3 points Seattle could have easily broken through in the 2nd half of the match to spoil the home opener. Well if it wasn’t for Seattle’s lack of finishing in front of goal. Joevin Jones was having himself a field day going 1v1 against DeLaGarza in 2nd half and was putting in cross after cross. Whether it was bad luck or a lack of finishing Seattle should have done better from all the service provided by Jones. Jordan Morris was nearly invisible all match, and it seemed as Lodeiro did not get the ball at his feet enough. Dempsey was the only attacker to truly show up putting in a goal and firing away many shots. It also did not help that Alvaro Fernandez was indeed in Beasley’s back pocket all game. Overall Seattle’s first half performance gave way to a first week loss against the Dynamo.
Next: MLS All Goals from Week 1
3. Counter Attacking 101
“We won’t see a possession oriented team, we don’t have the players for that. but we are gonna attack, we are gonna attack. we have the speed up front and players that want to score….we are gonna play the Dynamo way.” -Coach Wilmer Cabrera
In the post game conference Coach Cabrera clearly stated his vision for the Dynamo in the short clip that I am sure left Dynamo fans with little goosebumps. For many years the Dynamo had a dirty tough identity and in the past years there has been no identity to the team. WIlmer Cabrera is finally bringing an exciting style to this city and the way he talks about it it’s hard not to buy into it. After Saturday’s match, surely the players themselves believe in it. Wilmer knows “we won’t see a possession oriented team, we don’t have the players for that. But we are gonna attack, we are gonna attack”. The attacking onslaught from Quioto and Elis show “the Dynamo way” that Cabrera describes and Houston fans should be in for a ride.
Houston and Seattle fans, welcome to MLS 2017. Week 1 is gone and done, let us know what you thought of your team’s performance in the comments.