MONTREAL -- Houston Dynamo interim head coach Wade Barrett offered no excuses after a 1-0 loss to the Montreal Impact at Stade Saputo on Saturday night.
The loss extended Houston's winless streak to five games. Despite a number of solid scoring opportunities, the Dynamo failed to score for the fourth time during its current skid.
"It's a just result," Barrett said. "I mean, we never deserve more than what we get. So I talked to the guys, we are not a team that whines, we're not a team that complains, you have to fight for every single thing, you don't expect anything to be handed to you, and that's what I want the definition of this team to be.
"And I want the guys to be difficult to play against. I thought we did a pretty good job tonight. I know they had some chances, but we had some as well. And I've seen other teams come in here and get rolled over, and that didn't happen to my group tonight. They fought to the end so I'm still proud of that."
It was Houston's first game in Montreal since 2014, and the closest it has come to getting a result here. The Dynamo fell to 0-5 at Stade Saputo, where they have been outscored 15-2.
"This is a completely different team so none of those results have any effect on what happened tonight," Barrett said. "So I'm focused on this group, we've got a bunch of players that have no idea what's happened the last time we played here, and none of those points get carried over. So the guys came in, we were confident in what we were going to do, and just tonight, it didn't happen to work out."
Eight of Houston's last twelve games, and five of their last six, have resulted in one or no collective goals. On the bright side, the Dynamo aren't conceding a lot, but more importantly, they are struggling mightily to score. Dynamo defender Sheanon Williams acknowledged that losing a close game, as has all too often been the case this season, is particularly taxing.
"I think that's the most frustrating thing of it all," Williams said. "It would be easy to come in here after a 3-0 win and say that we need to do better, but I think that we had a lot of chances in that game to score and go up a goal, and then the game kind of changes.
"We've lost a lot of close games, we've tied a lot of close games, and it's definitely a lot more frustrating when you're that close to pushing over the edge and you just can't seem to get it done."
Houston midfielder Collen Warner played for Montreal from 2012-14.
"Just in general our form on the road hasn't been good since I've been here, and I guess historically as well, so it's something we're looking to improve," Warner said. "And I think our performances in some instances have been good enough to warrant a win. Tonight, it was 50-50, but it's just something we're working on as a team, as a group."
