The Houston Dynamo fell to the New England Revolution 2-0 at Gillette Stadium this year after conceding a pair of second-half goals.
The loss drops the Dynamo to 3-2-0 on the year and 0-2-0 away from home. After a first half in which the Dynamo held the majority of possession for the first time all year, New England came out aggressively to start the second stanza, outshooting Houston 12-1 in the last 45 minutes.
A bright spot for the Dynamo came in the 83rd minute, when Dynamo Academy alumnus Memo Rodriguez made his Major League Soccer debut. The 21-year-old midfielder, a Wharton native, came on as a substitute for midfielder Ricardo Clark to earn his first MLS minutes.
Former Dynamo forward Kei Kamara netted the game-winning goal in the 52nd minute when he ran onto a through ball from midfielder Lee Nguyen 30 yards from goal. Alone on Dynamo goalkeeper Tyler Deric, Kamara’s first shot was saved, but he wasted no time jumping on the rebound and sent the ball to the back of the net.
In the 61st minute, the Dynamo nearly tied the score. Midfielder Ricardo Clark played a curling long ball over the top of the New England defense that forward Erick Torres ran onto. Torres took a heavy touch, though, and Revolution goalkeeper Cody Cropper was quick off his line to collect the loose ball.
Three minutes later, defender Boniek GarcÃa, making his fourth career start at right back, found Clark coming into the left side of the penalty area off of a short corner kick. Clark fired a low, hard shot with his right foot, but Cropper got a hand on it and sent the attempt out for a corner kick.
New England put the game away in the 72nd minute when forward Juan Agudelo found himself in the right place to collect a rebound and fire it into an empty net for his third goal of the season. Deric dove to punch away a dangerous cross, but the ball fell right to Agudelo, who had merely to collect the ball and place it in the net.
After 45 minutes, the Dynamo and the Revs were tied 0-0. It was the first time the Dynamo went to the locker room without having scored goal this season, and the first time the Orange went into the locker room without the lead.
As the half was coming to end the Revs attempted to take the lead, but their opportunity went wide. In stoppage time, defender Antonio Delamea played a through ball from midfield. The ball reached Agudelo inside the box, where he flicked a header past Deric that went just wide of the right post.
The Dynamo had several chances in the first half, the best of which came in the 28th minute when forward Mauro Manotas took a shot from outside the box that went just over the bar. Six first-half corner kicks provided the Dynamo with a number of dangerous opportunities, but they were unable to find
The Dynamo will continue the 2017 season, presented by 76, on Saturday, April 15 at 7:30 p.m. CDT against Minnesota United FC at BBVA Compass Stadium. That game is the second of a Dash/Dynamo doubleheader on the day, as the Houston Dash open their 2017 NWSL campaign at 1 p.m. against the Chicago Red Stars. For more information on both games, visit HoustonDynamo.com/doubleheader.
New England Revolution vs. Houston Dynamo
MLS Week 6
April 8, 2017 – Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts
Attendance: 14,725
Scoring Summary:
NE: Kei Kamara 2 (unassisted) 52
NE: Juan Agudelo 3 (unassisted) 72
Houston Dynamo: Tyler Deric; Boniek GarcÃa, Adolfo Machado, Jalil Anibaba, Dylan Remick; Ricardo Clark (c) (Memo Rodriguez 83), Eric Alexander, Alex; Mauro Manotas, Erick Torres (Andrew Wenger 76), Alberth Elis (Vicente Sánchez 70)
Unused Substitutes: Joe Willis, DaMarcus Beasley, Kevin Garcia, Joseph Holland
Total shots: 5 (Alex, Alberth Elis, Ricardo Clark, Mauro Manotas, Dylan Remick 1); Shots on goal: 1 (Ricardo Clark 1); Fouls: 11 (Alex, Alberth Elis, Erick Torres 2); Offside: 1 (Ricardo Clark 1); Corner kicks: 9 (Alex 9); Saves: 2
New England Revolution: Cody Cropper; Kelyn Rowe, Antonio Delamea, John Smith, Andrew Farrell; Xavier Kouassi, Diego Fagundez (Je-Vaughn Watson 68), Scott Caldwell, Lee Nguyen (c) (Femi-Hollinger Janzen 90); Kei Kamara (Teal Bunbury 77), Juan Agudelo
Unused Substitutes: Brad Knighton, Benjamin Angoua, Chris Tierney, Daigo Kobayashi
Total shots: 14 (Kei Kamara 3); Shots on goal: 4 (Kei Kamara 2); Fouls: 12 (Juan Agudelo 4); Offside: 3 (Kei Kamara 2); Corner kicks: 9 (Lee Nguyen 8); Saves: 1
Discipline:
HOU: Ricardo Clark caution (unsporting behavior) 16
OFFICIALS
Referee: Silviu Petrescu
Assistant Referee 1: Gianni Facchini
Assistant Referee 2: Craig Lowry
Fourth Official: Jose Carlos Rivero
