Team returning home for Game 3 after tough loss
The Dynamo did everything they could to escape with a Game 2 victory in Monday’s first-round MLS playoff series, but instead, Real Salt Lake staved off elimination by winning 5-4 on penalty kicks after the teams played to a 1-1 draw.
The best-of-three series is tied 1-1 with the deciding game set for 5 p.m. Saturday at Shell Energy Stadium.
Playing at home, Real Salt Lake went perfect from the penalty spot in the shootout with Diego Luna converting the deciding kick. For the Dynamo, Anime Bassi, who scored on a rebound from a penalty in the first half, was denied by Zac MacMath before Adalberto Carrasquilla, Thor Úlfarsson, Griffin Dorsey and Nelson Quinones all converted their attempts.
It was a scrappy game, Dynamo coach Ben Olsen said, with more of a playoff feel to it with the intensity and physicality than in Game 1.
“They had a few key additions come back into the lineup, which helped them, great energy from them, good crowd and we still get the goal and force a penalty shootout on a day where it wasn’t our best day,” Olsen said. “But again, part of that is they came with a lot of energy, and we didn’t at times have the composure that we needed to have.
“Overall, we defended pretty well against a dangerous team that throws a bunch of numbers in there, and they have a talented attack. Proud we got to the PKs and unfortunately, they went the wrong way.”
Real Salt Lake beat Houston for the first time in five matches. The Dynamo made no lineup changes from Game 1, but Olsen expected to see a different RSL side with four lineup changes.
One of those was Justen Glad, who was shown a yellow card after Franco Escobar drew a foul inside the 18-yard box in the 27th minute, awarding the Dynamo a penalty kick.
A minute later, Bassi, who went six-for-six on penalty kicks during the regular season, was denied from the penalty spot at first but scored off his own rebound with a left-footed shot to the bottom right corner for a 1-0 halftime lead.
With his second playoff goal, Bassi became the fifth Dynamo player to score in two straight playoff games and the first since Omar Cummings scored in backto-back games during the 2013 postseason.
Minutes after Cristian Arango came on as a second-half substitute in the 55th minute, Real Salt Lake had its best sequence of the game as Andrés Gómez, Braian Ojeda, and Arango all had chances to score.
A trio of Real Salt Lake shots later, including a pair from Arango, RSL was awarded a free kick after Carrasquilla received a yellow card in the 69th minute for fouling Bryan Oviedo.
Jefferson Savarino then scored a late equalizer from a free kick to keep Real Salt Lake’s season alive with a shot to the top right corner for his teamleading eighth goal.
The Dynamo soon escaped another dangerous situation after Brayan Vera’s shot from outside the box via a free kick missed high and wide to the left.
“It’s annoying, especially when we are coming 1-nil up with Bassi’s penalty, then from there on I think it was a more even battle but they scored in a really good free kick, which then had the momentum change in the game,” defender Erik Sviatchenko said.
“I think we didn’t really get the control of the game that we wanted to in the last 25 minutes of the game.”
Olsen said Arango, who had missed the last three games due to a hamstring injury, is a big piece for Real Salt Lake.
“You could feel the energy in the building coming when he came on and, I mean, the goal came pretty quickly thereafter, I believe,” Olsen said. “He’s been one of the better forwards in the league for the last couple of years and he’s going to help them, and he added a dangerous element to already a dangerous attacking front.”
“We’re sure he’ll get more minutes next game and start, so he’s going to be a handful and a premier forward in our league that we’ll have to deal with. But part of that is us now getting hold of the game a little bit more and denying some of the service and the opportunities that he had there in the second half.”
There were eight yellow cards issued, five for the Dynamo, including Sviatchenko’s foul on Arango which led to Vera’s free kick, and three for Real Salt Lake. RSL outshot Houston 14-7 with RSL holding possession for 54% of the match. Steve Clark had a pair of saves for the Dynamo and MacMath had four.
Sviatchenko doesn’t mind the physicality.
“That’s the game sometimes,” Sviatchenko said. “Both teams want to win and sometimes you want to win a little bit too much and then you do a tackle and you get a yellow card. So, for me, it’s not a problem and I didn’t feel that it was a problem for our team. We stood ground, and in general, kept our cool.”