Club-record three red cards factor into latest loss
Exit of Fuenmayor, Elis, Ceren leave team short-handed
The Dynamo’s playoff hopes got dimmer Saturday night when they fell to Western Conference rival Sporting Kansas City 1-0 at BBVA Compass Stadium.
Dynamo defender Alejandro Fuenmayor collided with the back of Sporting KC midfielder Gianluca Busio’s head in the 14th minute of Saturday’s match and was given a questionable red card.
It gave the Dynamo fans painful flashbacks.
The last time the Dynamo (79-6) had to play with 10 men was just over a week ago, when they surrendered three goals to the Philadelphia Union in a loss.
This game, just like the one against the Union, featured a lot of stoppage and some headscratching officiating. Two other Dynamo players — midfielder Darwin Ceren and forward Alberth Elis — were issued red cards for violent conduct in the second half. Three red cards is a club record for the Dynamo.
At halftime, coach Wilmer Cabrera was ejected for irresponsible conduct in the tunnel when he was talking to the four game officials.
“I didn’t talk with that gentleman (who dismissed me),” Cabrera said. “I wasn’t talking to him, and he dismissed me in the tunnel because I was talking. The things that he told me, it’s not right to talk to any person like that.”
Despite being short-handed, Dynamo stayed in the game. Neither side scored until the 74th minute, when Sporting KC forward Diego Rubio found the back of the net on an assist from Busio.
Busio placed the ball on the chest of Rubio, who sped past three orange jerseys to find himself one-on-one with Dynamo goalkeeper Joe Willis. Rubio fired a shot with his right foot that went soaring past the diving Willis’ right shoulder and into the left corner of the net.
The Dynamo had nine shots, compared to Sporting KC’s 14 and the teams tied with four shots on target each. But Kansas City (106-6) won the possession battle, 60.5 percent to the Dynamo’s 39.5 percent.
The game got chippy in the second half, as rivalry matches often do, and the Dynamo ended the night with six yellow cards to go with three red cards. Six yellow cards also ties a club record.
“I would like you guys and the fans to help us,” Cabrera told the media after the match. “When we say something (about the officiating), it’s going to be taken like, ‘Oh, they’re trying to defend themselves. Or they’re trying to excuse themselves because they lost.’ ”
This was the third meeting this season between Sporting KC and the Dynamo. Sporting KC took the regular-season series 2-1.
With only 12 MLS games left on the schedule, the Dynamo have to have a quick turnaround to keep their playoff hopes alive. The team sits four spots out of the playoff picture in 10th place in the Western Conference.
The Dynamo will take a break from MLS play on Wednesday when they take on Los Angeles FC at home in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinal.
“It was a great effort,” Cabrera said. “Now, we have to come back to do the recovery to think that hopefully on Wednesday we can play a normal game.”
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