Houston Dynamo 2 earn their first points of the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro campaign on the road.
05/11/24 • 109 Views
Written by Juan Pereira
Photo by Real Salt Lake
While this past week has not been ideal for the first team, Kenny Bundy’s men have clinched a string of positive results away from home against tough teams such as The Town FC and Real Monarchs.
The Town FC
Entering this match, Houston got their first positive result of the season against North Texas, but a win in penalty kicks and/or regulation had yet to fall on their laps. Against the San Jose Earthquakes affiliate, things would be different.
The visitors faced some adversity early in the second half when Riley Lynch found Roka Tsunehara inside the area. Once again, the Dynamo would have to play from behind.
The game continued with Houston becoming desperate for an equalizer. This pattern continued until the dying minutes of the game, when Diego Gonzalez scored a golazo from long range to give the Dynamo life. Regulation ended with a score of 1-1, which meant that the winner of the extra point would be decided with penalty kicks.
Thankfully for the Dynamo, luck would finally be on their side, with Xavier Valdez pulling a stop and Ousmane Sylla scoring the winning penalty kick to give Houston their first win in penalties.
Real Monarchs
Real Monarchs, Real Salt Lake’s affiliate, have not had the greatest start to their season, but they still put up a fight against anyone in MLS NEXT Pro.
The first half had both sides interchanging chances, with nobody able to control the match. Houston’s best chances came in the opening minutes, but Salt Lake rebounded to make the game a true dogfight.
Just like last game however, the Dynamo would have to handle playing without a lead when in the 63rd minute, Aiden Hezarkhani displayed some elite ball control and slipped a nice shot past Xavier Valdez.
Thankfully for the Dynamo, Ousmane Sylla scored his first goal for Houston in the 69th minute, which gave Houston some much needed momentum.
In the 82nd minute, Stephen Annor scored the game winner after a nice pass from Isaiah Reid found him inside of the box.
Dynamo 2, after a horrendous start to the year, have rebounded in a major way, and they will try to continue this run of form on May 22 when they return from a four game road trip to face St. Louis CITY SC II. Tickets are free and can be found down below.
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