St. Paul, Minn. (April 13, 2024) – Houston Dynamo FC earned a 2-1 victory at Minnesota United FC tonight, improving the team’s record to 4-2-1 (WLD) this season and marking the first win at Allianz Field in club history.
Houston scored the match-winning goal in the 77th minute when forward Amine Bassi fed the ball to midfielder Sebastian Kowalczyk, who created his own space and fired the ball into the back of the net from outside the box for his first-career MLS goal.
Houston took the lead in the 38th minute when Bassi delivered a corner kick near the head of defender Micael, and the ball found the back off the net off Minnesota’s Alejandro Bran.
Minnesota equalized in the 70th minute when Robin Lod found Franco Fragapane near the penalty spot, who found the back of the net with a low shot to the far corner.
In the 12th minute, Bassi slipped a ball through to forward Aliyu Ibrahim running into the left side of the box, but the 22-year-old’s quick cross was blocked before it reached Kowalczyk. A couple of minutes later, Ibrahim worked his way back into the left side of the box to create another chance, but his low cross was just blocked again.
Houston recorded its first shot on goal in the 29th minute when midfielder Artur switched the ball to the left side to defender Erik Sviatchenko. The 32-year-old played the ball in to Kowalczyk near the penalty spot, but the midfielder could not get enough power on the ball to challenge goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair.
Minnesota almost took the lead in the 34th minute when Wil Trapp intercepted the ball on the edge of the penalty box, but defender Ethan Bartlow made a goal-saving block on the goal line.
Goalkeeper Steve Clark was called into action in the 48th minute when Bongokuhle Hlongwane found Teemu Pukki running into the box, and the Finnish forward curled a ball on target in between two defenders. The veteran shot stopper was able to corral the ball for this first of five saves on the night.
The Loons almost equalized in the 61st minute when a clearance fell to the feet of Jeong Sang-Bin, whose shot bounced off the right post.
Clark made two key saves during a 10-minute stoppage time period that secured the three points for Houston.
The Dynamo next host in-state rivals Austin FC at Shell Energy Stadium on April 20, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT. Tickets for that match are available HERE.
