In one 10-minute span on Saturday night the Houston Dynamo showed the resolve that has the club confident they still have a push to the playoffs in them.
After Ignacio Piatti scored on the break in the 55th minute, the Dynamo were in a familiar position. Defenders were discussing what happened, and the club was left looking at the clock knowing that if they wanted to keep their push to the playoffs alive they had to come up with a response.
When Ricardo Clark contorted his body to finish off a corner kick for the winning goal, they had answered the bell and showed the fight they expect this time of year.
“I think in the past we’ve kind of put our heads down and crumbled but this team showed a lot of character and resilience to come back and be hungry for it and thankfully we got the win,” Clark said. “Coming down to the end here, every game so is crunch time so we want to make the most of every game and every opportunity.”
Clark’s goal capped a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Impact that saw Houston concede two goals after taking an early lead. But they charged back in the second half, and the win keeps them well within striking distance of a playoff spot. More importantly, it showed the club has the ability to come back after conceding frustrating goals.
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“We knew we were on top of them, [so for them to be ahead] was kind of a sucker punch. Even their first goal, it was a foul on the halfway line but it gets called or it doesn’t get called so we were a little hard done by,” said Houston striker Giles Barnes, who on replay looked to be fouled on the turnover that led to Montreal’s first goal. “There was a little bit of fire in our belly to prove a point.”
Added head coach Dominic Kinnear: “You think ‘we shouldn’t be losing this game,’ and I don’t think we should have. I thought we were doing good and I thought before halftime we were lucky to come in tied, but sometimes that’s the way the game is.”
Houston has battled those bad moments all season. In their 13 losses, the Dynamo have continually found themselves on the wrong side of bounces and late scores.
Saturday against the Impact looked to be shaping up much the same way. Except this time Houston came back.
Barnes, who broke out of a five-game scoring slump with two goals on the night, continually pushed into the box to get into good spots and his partner Omar Cummings, one of four players filling in for unavailable starters, pressed the pace.
While the defense had their issues, especially in the middle where Kinnear attributed their troubles to miscommunication and dealing with Montreal’s quick strike attack, the Dynamo never hung their heads.
“This is the time of year, from what I hear, this is when the Dynamo make their run and I’m to be a part of it,” said defender DaMarcus Beasley. “This is when the Dynamo comes alive and I’m excited. We want to keep going the right direction.”
Darrell Lovell covers the Houston Dynamo for MLSsoccer.com.
