Home cooking remains a treat
The Dynamo may have been in a slump recently, but it didn’t look like it Wednesday night. They were at home, after all. Andrew Wenger scored in the first minute, and the Dynamo attack rarely slowed down en route to a 3-1 victory over the Montreal Impact in front of 15,740 fans at BBVA Compass Stadium. The Dynamo remain undefeated at home with eight wins in 10 games.
The Dynamo (8-7-4) had won only one of their previous eight games and had slipped from the top of the Western Conference to fifth place. Saturday’s 3-1 loss at Colorado was especially tough to take.
“(Tonight) we recovered our confidence and recovered our tenacity, our tactical movements,” Dynamo coach Wilmer Cabrera said. “Defensively, we improved.”
Wednesday’s game seemed to be well in hand in the 67th minute when Memo Rodriguez added an exclamation point by scoring his first career MLS goal. His shot from just outside the top of the penalty area came shortly after he subbed in.
He is the second Dynamo Academy product to score in league competition. Alex Dixon, who scored a stunning late winner against Real Salt Lake in 2011, was the first.
The Dynamo wasted almost no time going in front, as Wenger scored 52 seconds into the game.
Mauro Manotas played a short corner to Alex, who left it for Manotas to hit a cross. The ball found Wenger on the 6-yard line at the back post for an easy finish. No defender marked him or jumped with him.
“It’s a dream that one minute into the game you score the first goal,” Cabrera said.
Montreal (5-6-6) controlled possession for the next 20 minutes, but the Dynamo eventually took over.
They doubled the lead in the 23rd minute on a goal by Alex from the top of the box. Alex received a pass from Manotas and then used two touches — the second longer than the first — to set himself up for a left-footed shot.
Alex hooked the shot into the side netting of the right post.
The Dynamo continued to pressure the Montreal goal throughout the rest of the half, just missing a third goal several times.
“The first half we should have scored more goals,” Cabrera said. “We needed to be more clinical in our finishing because we had good chances to go with three or four goals at halftime.” The Dynamo absorbed pressure throughout the second half but did not give up any dangerous chances until the Impact finally scored on a short-angle volley by Michael Salazar in the 89th minute.
The Dynamo finished with nine on-target shots out of 16 total shots. The Impact put two of their 12 shots on target.
At halftime, the Dynamo honored legend Brad Davis with a retirement ceremony. It featured appearances by former players Tally Hall, Dwayne De Rosario, Cam Weaver, Corey Ashe, Brian Ching amd Mike Chabala.
Davis is the club’s alltime leader in appearances, minutes played and assists. He was on the MLS Cup-winning teams in 2006 and 2007.