The Houston Dynamo kept Nicolas Lodeiro under control for 90 minutes. Stoppage time proved another matter.
The Dynamo appeared to be headed for their second straight victory on Tuesday night, after second-half sub Andrew Wenger's 75th-minute strike, but the Seattle Sounders' new Uruguayan star scored just seconds from the final whistle to salvage a 1-1 draw for the exhausted visitors.
After a conservative, defensive first half, both teams made striker substitutions near the hour mark in hopes of sparking their respective offenses, with Seattle bringing on Jordan Morris for Nelson Valdez in the 57th minute and Houston subbing off Erick "Cubo" Torres for Will Bruin in the 60th.
The game opened up somewhat after that, but it was the decision to bring on Wenger in the 61st minute that proved decisive. After Alex won a ball in the attacking third, Ricardo Clark fed Wenger for a far-post blast into the side netting. That lead didn't stand, though, and Houston missed a chance to pull within three points of ninth-place Vancouver in the Western Conference.
Houston Dynamo (5-10-10, 25 points) vs. Seattle Sounders FC (9-12-4, 31 points)
MLS Regular Season
August 24, 2016—BBVA Compass Stadium— Houston, Texas
Attendance: 16,125
Scoring Summary:
HOU: Andrew Wegner 5 (Ricardo Clark 2, Will Bruin 3) 75
SEA: Nicolas Lodeiro 2 (Joevin Jones 2, Andreas Ivanschitz 7) 90+4
Houston Dynamo: Joe Willis; Sheanon Williams, David Horst, Raúl Rodríguez, Jalil Anibaba; Collen Warner, Alex; Boniek García (Eric Alexander 90), Ricardo Clark ©, Cristián Maidana (Andrew Wegner 61); Erik Torres (Will Bruin 60)
Unused Substitutes: Calle Brown, Agus, Mauro Manotas, Abdoulie Mansally
TOTAL SHOTS: 22 (Ricardo Clark 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (Erick Torres 2); FOULS: 7 (Boniek Garcia and Collen Warner tied with 2); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 3 (Boniek Garcia 2); SAVES: 1
Seattle Sounders: Stefan Frei; Dylan Remick (Andreas Ivanschitz 78); Zach Scott, Brad Evans ©, Tyrone Mears; Erik Friberg (Joevin Jones 58), Osvaldo Alonso; Álvaro Fernández, Nicolás Lodeiro, Cristian Roldan; Nelson Valdez (Jordan Morris 57)
Unused Substitutes: Tyler Miller, Román Torres, Oalex Anderson, Hérculez Gómez
TOTAL SHOTS: 3 (Nicolas Lodeiro 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2 (Jordan Morris and Nicolas Lodeiro tied with 1); FOULS: 9 (Nelson Valdez 4); OFFSIDES: 2 (Cristian Roldan and Nelson Valdez tied with 1); CORNER KICKS: 3 (Andreas Ivanschitz 2); SAVES: 3
Misconduct Summary:
SEA: Cristian Roldan (caution) 50
Referee: Armando Villareal
Assistant Referees: Jonathan Johnson, Jeffrey Greeson
Fourth Official: Caleb Mendez