The Houston Dynamo picked up their second home win of the season with a comprehensive 5-1 victory over Toronto FC this afternoon at BBVA Compass Stadium.
Forward Romell Quioto, making his second consecutive start after working his way into full fitness over the first month of the season, earned Man of the Match honors with a goal and two assists. Quioto also played a key role in two other Houston goals, though neither were counted as assists due to deflections off of Toronto defenders.
Defender Leonardo and midfielder Eric Alexander each scored their first goals of the season; and forwards Mauro Manotas and Alberth Elis each added to their season totals in the win. Goalkeeper Joe Willis, making his first start of the year, added six saves, including one on a Toronto penalty kick in stoppage time.
The Dynamo came out firing early, with a goal from Manotas in the third minute. Quioto stepped in front of a pass from Toronto defender Julian Dunn-Johnson and found Manotas near the 18-yard box. The Colombian collected the loose ball and calmly slid it past Toronto goalkeeper Clint Irwin for his team-leading fourth goal of the season.
The Dynamo picked up their second goal not long after. In the seventh minute, midfielder Tomás MartÃnez played a short corner to Quioto on the left flank. Quioto’s cross into the penalty area was cleared by Toronto’s defense, but not far enough as Leonardo was at the edge of the box to fire a right-footed shot into the bottom right corner of the goal.
Toronto appeared to score in the 29th minute, but referee Drew Fischer waved it off after using Video Review. After review, Fischer determined that forward Jordan Hamilton was in an offside position before heading the ball in off a cross from midfielder Ryan Telfer.
The Dynamo started the second half the same way they started the first one – fast. Less than a minute after the half began, Quioto dribbled the ball down the left flank and into the box playing a low pass across the face of goal that was initially cut out by Dunn-Johnson, but midfielder Eric Alexander found the rebound and tapped the ball into the net from three yards away.
Toronto pulled a goal back in the 52nd minute off of a corner kick from the right side. Midfielder Ager Aketxe sent his corner to the far post, finding defender Mitchell Taintor, who headed the ball into the bottom left corner.
The quickly reclaimed the momentum at the hour mark. In the 60th minute, Quioto outran Dunn-Johnson on the left side and sent a cross to the middle of the box for Elis, who flung himself into the air feet first at the ball to stab it into the net for his third of the campaign.
After having recorded two assists and playing a role in each of the first four goals, Quioto topped off his performance with a late goal of his own. In the 77th minute, the Honduran international received a pass from defender Alejandro Fuenmayor on the left flank and dribbled the ball down into the box before taking a low right-footed shot to the far corner of the goal.
After a day full of offensive fireworks, Houston’s final highlight of the day came courtesy of goalkeeper Joe Willis. Making his first start of the year, Willis ended the day with six saves, none bigger than his stop of a penalty kick from Aketxe in the 91st minute.
The Houston Dynamo will travel to Minneapolis on Saturday, April 28 to face Minnesota United FC at 7:00 p.m. CDT from TCF Bank Stadium before returning home to host the LA Galaxy on Saturday, May 5. Single-game tickets for that match are sold out, although partial and full season ticket plans which include the Galaxy match remain available. Tickets may be purchased online at HoustonDynamo.com, by phone at 713-276-GOAL and at the BBVA Compass Stadium box office.
Houston Dynamo (2-2-2; 8 pts.) 5-1 Toronto FC (1-4-0; 3 pts.)
MLS Regular Season Week 8
April 21, 2018 – BBVA Compass Stadium – Houston, Texas
Attendance: 17,109
SCORING SUMMARY:
HOU: Mauro Manotas 4 (Romell Quioto 1) 3
HOU: Leonardo 1 (unassisted) 7
HOU: Eric Alexander (unassisted) 46
TOR: Mitchell Taintor 1 (Ager Aketxe 1) 52
HOU: Alberth Elis 3 (Romell Quioto 2) 60
HOU: Romell Quioto 1 (Alejandro Fuenmayor 1) 77
LINEUPS:
Houston Dynamo: Joe Willis; Andrew Wenger, Adolfo Machado, Leonardo (Alejandro Fuenmayor 75), DaMarcus Beasley ©; Eric Alexander, Tomás MartÃnez (Boniek GarcÃa 65), Darwin Cerén; Alberth Elis, Mauro Manotas (Arturo Alvarez 69), Romell Quioto
Unused subs: Chris Seitz, Charlie Ward, Memo Rodriguez, Mac Steeves
Total shots: 20 (Alberth Elis 6); Shots on goal: 11 (Alberth Elis, Romell Quioto 3); Fouls: 11 (Leonardo 3);Offside: 2 (Alberth Elis, Romell Quioto 1); Corner kicks: 8 (Tomás MartÃnez 3); Saves: 6 (Joe Willis 6)
Toronto FC: Clint Irwin; Ryan Telfer, Jason Hernandez © (Aidan Daniels 78), Julian Dunn-Johnson, Mitchell Taintor; Liam Fraser, Nicolas Hasler (Mariano Miño 65), Ager Aketxe; Jay Chapman; Jordan Hamilton, Tosaint Ricketts (Ben Spencer 65)
Unused subs: Caleb Patterson-Sewell, Ayo Akinola
Total shots: 17 (Jordan Hamilton 4); Shots on goal: 7 (Seven players tied, 1 each); Fouls: 5 (Five players tied, 1 each); Offside: 5 (Jordan Hamilton, Tosaint Ricketts 2); Corner kicks: 6 (Ager Aketxe 4); Saves: 6 (Clint Irwin 6)
DISCIPLINE:
TOR: Mitchell Taintor (caution; foul) 29
TOR: Jordan Hamilton (caution; foul) 79
OFFICIALS:
Referee: Drew Fischer
Assistant Referee 1: Jeffrey Greeson
Assistant Referee 2: Matthew Nelson
Fourth Official: David Gantar
VAR: Younes Marrakchi
