Red Bulls win seen as launch to progress
By the time forward Alberth Elis headed in his goal in the 72nd minute to put the Dynamo’s lead over the New York Red Bulls out of reach Wednesday, he was relieved to have helped stop the bleeding for a team that had slipped in the MLS Western Conference standings.
His second goal, which came in stoppage time, was icing on the cake, and his focus has shifted to Saturday’s opponent, FC Cincinnati (3-13-2, 11 points).
“Without a doubt there was pressure,” Elis said of the Red Bulls match. “We knew that if we didn’t win we could fall from the playoff zone. For now, we remain in the top spots and we hope to keep winning and earn more points away from home — we need to do that.”
The Dynamo (8-6-3, 27 points) are sixth in the conference; FC Cincinnati, the league’s most recent addition this year, resides in 12th in the Eastern Conference.
But the Dynamo’s road record (one win to six losses) is well-documented and the worst in their conference — and even worse than FC Cincinnati in terms of points earned (three to four).
“Everyone who goes out to the field does his best and wants to win,” Elis said. “I think the only thing missing now is more points away from home if we really want to challenge for something this season.”
A big piece of that effort involved the Dynamo getting their usual starters back.
Elis and Mauro Manotas each missed significant playing time through June but combined to score three goals Wednesday, with Elis assisting on the Manotas goal, then seizing a share of the scoring lead (seven goals) with him later in the match.
Elis’ fellow Honduran international Maynor Figueroa returned to the center of the back line to help protect a clean sheet with defender Aljaz Struna. But Figueroa will miss the next game after being shown a red card late in stoppage time — the official cited that he stepped on New York midfielder Alejandro Romero’s foot and pointed to the scoreboard before Romero retaliated by kicking Figueroa’s leg to earn a red card.
“It was huge,” goalkeeper Joe Willis said. “We got a lot of guys back. Alberth helped us out immensely. He’s a special player, and you see what kind of difference he makes when he’s out on the field. Other guys, (like) Maynor. Having a full-strength squad and options to choose from, it gives us a lot, especially considering how many games we’ve played in such a short time. It’s a lot on your body, and for guys to play that many games, it becomes tough. Squad rotation is crucial, so it’s good to have the depth again.
“We’re pretty happy about (the New York win). We knew after the week we just had, we needed to come out and make a statement. I think we did that. Not just the four goals but keeping the clean sheet was big for us going forward and now we have to start focusing on Cincinnati.”