Unbeaten streak at home is over
The Houston Dynamo failed to protect home field for the first time since last summer on Saturday night at Shell Energy Stadium.
Elias Manoel and Lewis Morgan scored in each half, and the New York Red Bulls ended the Dynamo’s 12-match unbeaten streak at home with a 2-1 MLS win.
Houston (0-1-1) had its first home loss in all competitions since falling to Charlotte 2-1 in the Leagues Cup on Aug. 7. The Dynamo tied Sporting Kansas City 1-1 to open the MLS season.
“I don’t like to lose in general, but we don’t like to lose here,” Dynamo coach Ben Olsen said. “Give them credit; we played kind of into their strengths a lot of times. I think we lacked a little personality in the first half. The subs came in and did a good job, and we ended up putting overall a pretty good performance, but we just didn’t make the plays that matter on both ends.”
New York (1-0-1) secured its first win of the regular season after a scoreless draw against Nashville.
The seats at Shell Energy Stadium were still filling up five minutes into the game when Ibrahim Aliyu’s shot from outside the box was saved by Carlos Coronel in the center of the goal. But Aliyu wasn’t done.
Aliyu used a pass from Coco Carrasquilla to give the Dynamo a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute with a right-footed shot from the center of the box to the bottom right corner for his first MLS goal of the season.
New York still outshot Houston 8-7 in the first half. A trio of those scoring chances came from Emil Forsberg, Morgan and Dante Vanzeir before Manoel scored his team’s first goal of the season.
After Brooklyn Raines lost possession of the ball on their side of the field, the Red Bulls tied the game at 1-1 on Manoel’s header from the left side of the 6-yard box off a cross from Vanzeir in the 43rd minute.
An Artur error allowed New York to score the pivotal goal early in the second half. The Red Bulls used a bad pass from Artur to take a 2-1 lead in the 59th minute on Morgan’s left-footed shot from outside the box to the top left corner for his first MLS goal this season.
“He’s (Artur) been maybe one of the best players we’ve had for a year and a half and I think that’s his first mistake, so we’ll give him a pass,” Olsen said. “Brooklyn’s learning his craft and he’s doing it right in front of our eyes and that doesn’t mean it always goes according to plan, and that’s OK, that’s development, too. Being in the midfield against a Red Bull defense, it’s very difficult, things happen quick and that’s a learning lesson for him tonight.”