Houston Dynamo FC played to a scoreless draw with Real Salt Lake in the first match of the 2022 season tonight at PNC Stadium.
Houston outshot the visitors 10-8 on the night, held possession of the ball for nearly two-thirds of the match and completed nearly 500 passes, but were unable to find the back of the net. Midfielder Darwin Quintero, making his 100th league appearance as a second-half substitute, had the most dangerous scoring opportunity of the night when his curling shot from distance beat RSL goalkeeper Zac MacMath but caught the woodwork in the 82nd minute.
The Dynamo nearly struck first in the fourth minute, when a corner kick fell to midfielder Matías Vera outside of the box. Vera’s strike found forward Sebastian Ferreira in an attacking position in front of goal, but his shot was deflected by a RSL defender for a corner kick.
The Dynamo generated another chance in the 40th minute, when defender Griffin Dorsey stole the ball from an RSL defender in Houston’s attacking third. Dorsey then found Vera before his shot ricocheted off of an RSL defender for a Dynamo corner kick.
Houston generated its best chance of the first half in the 44th minute, when midfielder Darwin Cerén found forward Fafà Picault streaking up the left side. Picault was able to elude an RSL defender and generate space inside the penalty area, before his right-footed shot whistled just wide of the net.
In the second half, Dynamo defender Adam Lundkvist won the ball inside of the box in the 60th minute and blistered a shot on goal, forcing a save from MacMath. The ball ricocheted back to Lundkvist and the defender headed a follow-up effort toward goal, which MacMath was able to corral.
In the 72nd minute, RSL went on the counterattack and were able to open up enough space to get a shot off on target. However, Dynamo goalkeeper Steve Clark made a diving stop in his first match with the Club to keep the match scoreless. Clark became the fifth Dynamo goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet on his club debut, joining Tony Caig, Tally Hall, Tyler Deric and Chris Seitz.
In the 81st minute, rookie forward Thor Úlfarsson was subbed on for forward Corey Baird, making his professional debut.
The Dynamo will make their first road trip of the season next Saturday afternoon when they visit longtime rivals Sporting Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park. Kickoff for that match is set for 2:30 p.m. and it will be televised live in English throughout the Greater Houston area and most of Texas on AT&T SportsNet Southwest and in Spanish across Houston on TeleXitos.
