ST. LOUIS (Feb. 20, 2024) – Houston Dynamo FC fell 2-1 on the road to St. Louis CITY SC at CITYPARK tonight in the in the first leg of the Round One matchup of the Concacaf Champions Cup.
Houston and St. Louis will meet again for the second leg at Shell Energy Stadium on Tuesday, Feb. 27, with kickoff scheduled for 9:30 p.m. CT. The Dynamo returned to the regional competition for the first time since 2019 after winning the 2023 U.S. Open Cup.
St. Louis defender Tim Parker scored the opening goal in the 61st minute off a free kick from Indiana Vassilev. The midfielder found Parker at the far post and his header found the bottom corner of the near post.
Houston equalized in the 72nd minute after forward Aliyu Ibrahim won the ball outside the box. Ibrahim found midfielder Sebastian Kowalczyk at the far post for the equalizer and his first goal for the Dynamo.
St. Louis took the lead in the 91st minute after Hosei Kijima won the ball in the penalty box and tucked the ball into the bottom right corner.
Houston had a dangerous chance within the first couple of minutes, as defender Griffin Dorsey found himself in space up the right side and delivered a ball to the head of fellow defender Micael. The Brazilian’s attempt went just over crossbar.
Defender Erik Sviatchenko tallied the first shot on goal of the evening for the Dynamo in the 14th minute with a half-volley attempt that was handled by the St. Louis shot stopper.
The Dynamo nearly capitalized on a turnover at the top of the box in the 18th minute after Adalberto “Coco” Carrasquilla intercepted a pass and forced the backline to clear his shot attempt at the near post.
A similar play occurred on the other end of the field with João Klauss intercepting the ball at the edge of the box, but his shot was off target and missed the inside of the far post.
The Dynamo were forced to make a substitution in the 25th minute after forward Sebas Ferreira went down with a lower body injury and was replaced by defender Brad Smith.
Houston nearly took the lead in the 26th minute after Carrasquilla played a ball over the top of the St. Louis backline for Ibrahim, who found the back of the net. The goal was reviewed by the video assistant referee Guillermo Pacheco and ruled offside.
Dynamo goalkeeper Steve Clark beat Samuel Adreniran to a cross in the 55th minute, the first threat of the second half for the local team. The Dynamo shot stopper was called into action four minutes later to deny Adreniran at the far post for the first of three saves in a matter of minutes. Shortly after St. Louis’ opening goal, Clark stepped up with another diving stop, sending Tomas Totland’s shot behind the goal.
The Dynamo return to Shell Energy Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 24 to host Sporting Kansas City in the regular season home opener, powered by Shell Energy. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT.
