The Houston Dynamo tied New York City FC 1-1 in a nationally-televised match at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut on Saturday afternoon. The match was played in Connecticut due to a conflict with a New York Yankees makeup game forced it to be relocated away from Yankee Stadium.
Despite conceding a goal inside the first 10 minutes, the Dynamo rallied quickly to level the scoreline and created more dangerous chances in the second half.
Goalkeepers Tyler Deric and Sean Johnson were extremely influential, coming up with important saves at the end of the game. Deric had three saves and Johnson two just in the final 10 minutes of the game.
New York City FC jumped on the board first thanks to a flicked-on header from midfielder Maxi Moralez that drifted inside the far post in the game’s sixth minute, but Houston answered 10 minutes later through forward Mauro Manotas off of a quick restart.
Manotas’ goal was set up when midfielder Alex was fouled at the top of the New York penalty area. Rather than take a direct free kick, forward Vicente Sánchez caught NYCFC’s defense napping with a quick through ball to Manotas, who raced onto the pass and chipped a first-touch shot past New York Johnson.
Sánchez came close to putting Houston ahead in the 29th minute when, after working free from NYC defender Alexander Callens with a nifty cutback on the right side of the penalty area, his curling left-footed effort sailed just wide of the far post.
Sánchez came close to putting Houston ahead in the 29th minute when, after working free from NYC defender Alexander Callens with a nifty cutback on the right side of the penalty area, his curling left-footed effort sailed just wide of the far post.
Deric kept the game level with a massive save off of New York City forward David Villa in the 34th minute. Villa was on the receiving end of a one-two combination with midfielder Alexander Ring and fired a low left-footed shot toward the right post, but Deric quickly got down to parry it wide for a corner kick. Moments later, off the ensuing corner, NYCFC forward Jack Harrison found midfielder Thomas McNamara alone inside the penalty area, but McNamara’s left-footed volley went over the crossbar from eight yards out.
Manotas nearly gave Houston the lead in the 55th minute after an exchange in which the ball caromed off of several players from both teams in and around the New York penalty area. Midfielder Eric Alexander, making his return to MLS action for the first time since May 6, controlled the ball and chipped a pass through to Manotas, whose right-footed volley trickled just wide of the left post.
Deric came up big again in the 58th minute with a diving save at his left post to deny a left-footed blast from New York forward Jack Harrison.
In the 61st minute, Sánchez got free inside the area and fired a hard, low cross in front of the New York goal, but Manotas was a step away from getting onto the end of it to redirect the ball into the net.
Forward Rodney Wallace had two important opportunities that were denied by Deric. In the 82nd minute, Wallace took a left footed shot that was sent to a corner kick by Deric. Shortly after, Dynamo’s forward Alberth Elis answered that opportunity on a counter, but the New York City keeper denied him well off his line.
Wallace had another opportunity with a header, but Deric was positioned in the right spot to make an easy catch from short range. NYCFC tried again via midfielder Jack Harrison who blasted a shot from just outside the box, but Deric leapt to snag the ball before it reached it the upper corner. In stoppage time, Elis led another counter attack and found himself on 1-on-1 with Johnson, but the goalie again got the upper hand to stop the opportunity.
The Dynamo will continue the 2017 season, presented by 76, with a pair of home games next week. Houston hosts the LA Galaxy at BBVA Compass Stadium on Wednesday, Sept. 27 at 7:30 p.m. CDT and will welcome Minnesota United FC on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m. The Minnesota match will be the club’s annual ‘Noche Naranja’ celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.
New York City FC (15-8-7; 52 pts.) 1-1 Houston Dynamo (10-10-9, 39 pts.)
MLS Week 29
Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017 – Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field – East Hartford, Conn.
Attendance: 10,165
NYC: Maximiliano Moralez 5 (Andraz Struna 1) 6
HOU: Mauro Manotas 9 (Vicente Sánchez 2) 16
LINEUPS:
New York City FC (4-2-3-1): Sean Johnson; Andraz Struna (RJ Allen 71), Frederic Brilliant, Alexander Callens, Ben Sweat; Thomas McNamara (Rodney Wallace 65), Andrea Pirlo; Jack Harrison, Maximiliano Moralez, Alexander Ring; David Villa © (Khiry Shelton 83)
Unused Substitutes: Eirik Johansen, Ronald Matarrita, Sean Okoli, James Sands
Total shots: 17 (Rodney Wallace 5); Shots on goal: 7 (Rodney Wallace and Jack Harrison 2); Fouls: 7 (Alexander Ring 2); Offside: 2 (David Villa 2); Corner kicks: 4 (Andrea Pirlo 4); Saves: 2 (Sean Johnson 2)
Houston Dynamo (4-2-3-1): Tyler Deric; A.J. DeLaGarza, Adolfo Machado, Leonardo , DaMarcus Beasley ©; Juan David Cabezas, Boniek Garcia (Eric Alexander 52), Vicente Sánchez (Alberth Elis 65); Tomás MartÃnez, Mauro Manotas, Alex (Andrew Wenger 74)
Unused Substitutes: Joe Willis, Jalil Anibaba, Ricardo Clark, Erick Torres
Total shots: 11 (Mauro Manotas and Alberth Elis 3); Shots on goal: 3 (Alberth Elis 2); Fouls: 10 (Mauro Manotas 2); Offside: 0; Corner kicks: 3 (Boniek GarcÃa, Vicente Sánchez, Tomás MartÃnez 1); Saves: 6 (Tyler Deric 6)
DISCIPLINE:
N/A
OFFICIALS:
Referee: Allen Chapman
Assistant Referee 1: Jason White
Assistant Referee 2: Craig Lowry
4th Official: Younes Marrakchi
VAR: Kevin Terry Jr.
