Houston Dynamo FC fell to Vancouver Whitecaps FC 6-2 on the road tonight after playing with 10 men for the final 22 minutes of the match.
Vancouver defender Mathías Laborda tumbled to the ground after an altercation with midfielder Nelson Quiñónes in the 69th minute, and the referee showed the Houston attacker a straight red card.
Vancouver took the lead in the opening minute of the match after Brian White capitalized on a clearance. The forward played the ball to an unmarked Pedro Vite who finished at the near post for his third goal of the season.
Dynamo FW Corey Baird scored the equalizer in the eighth minute off a cross from midfielder Adalberto “Coco” Carrasquilla. The Panamanian international found the forward at the far post and the cross just evaded a diving effort from a defender to clear the ball. The forward finished at the near post for his first goal of the season and fourth of the month.
Defender Daniel Steres found forward Amine Bassi for the second Dynamo goal of the evening in the 16th minute. Bassi brought down the long ball with his first touch and created space for an effort that got past a sliding Yohei Takaoka.
Vancouver scored the equalizer two minutes later when Luis Martins found Julian Gressel at the far post. Gressel’s first-time finish beat the Dynamo shot stopper for his second goal of the season.
The Whitecaps took the lead again within the first minute of the second half, after Ryan Gauld’s shot bounced off the right post and Brian White cleaned up the rebound from near the penalty spot to find the back of the net.
Vancouver scored again 12 minutes later after Ryan Gauld forced a save from Dynamo goalkeeper Steve Clark. The ball fell to Gressel at the near post for his second goal of the match.
The Whitecaps extended their lead to three goals in the 88th minute when Luís Martins’ cross from the left side of the penalty box deflected off DF Ethan Bartlow and fell to Sebastian Berhalter, who put the ball in the top left corner of the net for his first goal of the season.
Vancouver scored a sixth goal in stoppage time when Berhalter put in a low cross from the right side of the six-yard box, and Gauld poked the ball into the back of the net for his first goal of the season.
The Dynamo responded to the opening goal in the seventh minute after forward Aliyu Ibrahim dribbled past a defender inside the box, but his effort was saved at the near post. The forward scored his first goal for the Dynamo on May 23 in a victory over Minnesota United FC to advance to the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
The Dynamo were denied by the post in the 24th minute after Bassi played a ball into the box for Carrasquilla, the midfielder’s bicycle bounced off the near post. The second ball fell to Ibrahim, but his header went over the crossbar.
Houston was denied again in the 32nd minute after Ibrahim got behind the Vancouver backline. Takaoka made the initial save and the ball fell to Baird, but his effort bounced off his teammate and back to Carrasquilla. The midfielder was shoved off the ball inside the box and eventually cleared by the Vancouver backline.
The Dynamo had a chance to cut the Whitecaps’ lead in half in the 86th minute when defender Erik Sviatchenko found Franco Escobar running up the right wing. The fellow defender managed an accurate, first-touch shot from the top right corner of the penalty box, but a diving Takaoka was able to secure the ball with both hands.
The Dynamo are back in action on Saturday, June 3 when they travel to Missouri to face St. Louis CITY SC, with kickoff schedule for 7:30 p.m. CT at CITYPARK. Houston also travels to face Chicago Fire FC on Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup at SeatGeek Stadium.
