Written by Juan Pereira

Photo by Houston Dynamo FC

Coming off of a disappointing loss against Austin FC, another defeat against FC Dallas would have been catastrophic. At the very least, Houston didn’t lose a fourth straight game against a Texas rival, and they extended their home unbeaten streak against Dallas to 11 games, but the same story of beautiful football and weak execution in the second half was told. Will things ever change?

The Dynamo almost conceded in the first couple of minutes, but Steve Clark made a crucial point-blank save to keep the game leveled.

In the 12th minute, Jesus Ferreira tried to sneak in an attempt from, but his shot went just wide, shortly after, in the 13th minute, Griffin Dorsey had a nice shot from outside the box, but it was saved by Maarten Paes.

In the 16th minute, Artur had another Dynamo shot outside the box, but it was straight at Paes. The ball circulation early on was good from Houston; they just lacked some quality.

In the 35th minute, it was Artur with yet another shot, but this time, Paes had to dive for it. The Dynamo were spending a majority of their time in the opposition’s side of the pitch.

In the 40th minute, Houston had their first corner kick of the match, and it seemed like this was their best moment of the match thus far. During this time, Erik Sviatchenko had a header that went just wide.

In stoppage time of the first half, Hector Herrera took a shot right next to the arc at the top of the box, but just like many of the Dynamo shots up to this point, it went straight to Paens. Shortly after, Coco took a nice shot that was deflected away by the FC Dallas goalkeeper.

In the dying moments of the half, a cut back pass from Steres found Bassi, and the Dynamo midfielder slotted in a shot into the net. The Dynamo desperately needed that goal, and just a couple of seconds later, the half ended with the home side having all of the momentum.

The Dynamo kept getting chances and pushing the tempo of this match. However, in the 69th minute, Dallas found an equalizer thanks to Petar Musa’s high xG attempt. Despite dominating most of the chances in this match, Houston found themselves tied once again.

Sadly, Steve Clark was injured on the play, and had to be subbed off. Andrew Tarbell came into this match as a result of the injury. In the 90th minute, Gaines also had to be subbed off after coming on as a sub.

As time ticked down, Houston became more and more desperate, but their second goal never came. It would end up being an anticlimactic draw, but all things considered, this result wasn’t horrible considering what has transpired in the past weeks.

“(It was) another good performance,” Ben Olsen said after the game. “We didn’t get the result we think we deserved.”

However, Dynamo fans have heard this script before, and while the Dynamo did dominate, they continue to lack that finishing punch to win games. The Dynamo will now travel on the road, where they have achieved good results, and face off against MLS powerhouse LA Galaxy on May 25.