ATLANTA – The Houston Dynamo continue to be one of MLS’s best teams at home, and one of its worst on the road.
The Dynamo currently sit second in the Western Conference standings, with 19 points from 12 matches, but they’ve earned all those points at BBVA Compass Stadium, where they’re an impressive 6-0-1.
Their 4-1 loss to Atlanta United at Bobby Dodd Stadium on Saturday night leaves them as statistically the league’s weakest road team, without a single point earned away from home in five tries, all of them lost by more than one goal.
Asked why his team has struggled when they leave Houston, Dynamo defender A.J. DeLaGarza was at a loss.
“I don’t know, we’re trying to figure that out,” he said. “We know we have a group that can win games at home, but we have to be able to do that on the road. We haven’t so far.”
Head coach Wilmer Cabrera was quick to point to the team’s defensive struggles – they’ve conceded 14 goals in those five away games – as the root cause of their poor road record.
“We haven’t defended well,” he said. “We haven’t defended the way we should defend.”
That’s an understatement. Since taking a 2-1 lead in the first half against the Portland Timbers in their first road game of the season (March 18), the Dynamo have been outscored 13-1 on the road, and have conceded multiple goals in every road game this season.
But there’s plenty of blame to go around for the Dynamo. Houston have only scored three road goals, and they haven’t scored an away goal from the run of play in more than two months.
The game in Atlanta was no different. Their three top scorers this season – Erik “Cubo” Torres, Alberth Elis and Romell Quioto – were not in Saturday’s starting 11, and though Torres and Quioto came off the bench in the second half, it was too little, too late.
“We created options, but we didn’t score,” Cabera said of his team’s performance in Atlanta. “When you have one or two chances, you have to put those away, especially with teams like this.”
The pressure to turn their road form around won’t let up for the Dynamo, who play three of their next four on the road, including Sunday’s match against Texas Derby rival FC Dallas.
“It’s unacceptable and it will be a tough week for us,” said DeLaGarza. “We’ll get back home and focus on Dallas.”
