The Houston Dynamo returned from the international break with an emphatic 4-1 win over the New York Red Bulls. Here’s three thoughts on the win:
1. Cubo jumps to the top of the golden boot standings
After being dormant in his first two seasons with the Dynamo, Erick Torres is loudly making history. His hat trick on Saturday night catapulted Torres, at least for the time being, to the top of the golden boot standings while teammate Alex is the joint-league leader in assists.
By scoring against the Red Bulls, Torres also became the first Dynamo player to score in four consecutive games and the first to start the season with six goals. Time will tell if he can keep up his form but, by all accounts, Torres is starting to live up to his potential that could line him up as a force to be reckoned with in Major League Soccer.
2. The team responded to the road loss with an emphatic home win
The big question heading into this match was how Wilmer Cabrera’s 4-3-3 was going to function without the on-field contributions of Romell Quioto and Alberth Elis on the wings. There was no drop-off with Manotas and Andrew Wenger, and Elis was a luxury on the night coming off the bench.
The biggest criticism of the road loss at Portland was the dismantling of the midfield in the second half. Tonight, that midfield had presence and was led by the trio of Alex, Ricardo Clark and Eric Alexander.
3. The players have bought in and the results are proof
Clearly, there is a totally different attitude in the locker room that cannot be understated when talking about why this team has been successful early. Cabrera deserves credit for getting the players to buy into his philosophy and gameplan.
Manotas mentioned in his post-match comments that the players are buying what the coach is selling because he has preached unity and inclusion, shown tonight with the first starts of the season for Manotas, Wenger and Jalil Anibaba. The team also responded by overturning an early deficit into the best win of the season and, in the process, containing two of last season’s MVP finalists in Bradley Wright-Phillips and Sasha Kljestan.
