Written by Juan Pereira

Photo by Houston Dynamo FC

In MLS, points away from home are hard to come by, and considering the recent run of form, it could be understood if the Dynamo weren’t considered to be favorites entering this matchup. Nevertheless, Ben Olsen’s side proved yet again why they won the U.S. Open Cup and made the conference final last year thanks to their inspiring performance against Sporting KC.

The game started off hot when Coco Carrasquilla had the Dynamo’s first shot on goal in the eight minute.

However, Sporting Kansas City came at the Dynamo with the same ferocity that was shown to them; this was evident when in the 15th minute, Micael had to make a crucial block to deny Alan Pulido’s shot.

Shortly after, the Dynamo defender was called to action yet again and notched a clean interception inside the box. 

In the 31st minute, Hector Herrera gave the visitors an early lead after his shot from the outside of the box curled in towards the far post. Hector Herrera has had two goal contributions in his last two games.

Entering halftime, the Dynamo were controlling the flow of this game, but it would take an inspiring defensive effort to keep Pulido and Sporting Kansas City off the board.

In the 48th minute, Griffin Dorsey made a run into the box with the ball, and his shot barely tipped over the bar.

In the 61st minute, Sporting Kansas City got their breakthrough thanks to a clean finish from Dániel Sallói.

The Dynamo were undeterred by this setback, and in the 78th minute, Aliyu Ibrahim scored his team-leading 4th goal of the season, which sealed the victory for the Houston Dynamo. However, that goal wouldn’t have happened without Dorsey making a fascinating run into the opposition’s side of the field.

“This was Griffin’s best game of the year,” Ben Olsen said in the postgame press conference. “Today, he was calmer, and his final product looked more like himself; it’s a big deal for us because Griffin is a huge part of how we go about winning games.”

Dorsey, just like Herrera, has gotten his first two goal contributions of the year in the last two games. 

“After the Open Cup game, we sat as a team and said, ‘this is a big moment for us,’” Dorsey said after the match. “We knew it could be a turnaround situation; we came out with that mentality tonight, and it’s good to get an away result.”

The Dynamo will now turn their eyes towards Austin FC on May 15. Then, they will return home and face off against FC Dallas the following Saturday.