The first month of the long MLS regular season came to a close on a sour note for the Houston Dynamo on Saturday, with a 1-0 loss to Vancouver Whitecaps FC—their second consecutive loss on the road.
But the results, while obviously not what the team wants nor expects, don’t tell the whole story of the team’s performances. In Vancouver, as well against the New York Red Bulls the week prior and against the New England Revolution on opening day, the Dynamo controlled large quantities of the match only to be undone by a spell of pressure and some bad luck to drop points.
“The first 10 to 15 minutes, the game belonged to [Vancouver] in that spell. From that point in the game we really took charge of the game, controlled the whole game,” Dynamo head coach Owen Coyle told media following the match. “So, it's hard to sit here with no points from that game given the performance we put in during the match.”
According to Opta, the Dynamo allowed just four shots—including Pedro Morales’ penalty kick goal—after conceding eight shots in the first 20 minutes of the match. Houston notched just three shots in that opening period, then racked up 14 shots after going down a goal en route for a season-high 17 total shots.
The Dynamo also set season highs in possession percentage, crosses, and corner kicks on Saturday, but the league’s leading offense was kept off the board for the first time in 2016.
“We know what we have inside, we can play, created chances, hit the bar, post and give ourselves opportunities,” Coyle said. “We forced, which I believe a very good Vancouver Whitecaps team, which they are, forced them on the back foot at home. So disappointing to leave with no points but again, I thought there were a lot of aspects I was pleased with the performance.”
Pleasing as the totality of the performance may be, the players and staff know that they need to extend that quality for the totality of the 90 minutes in order to secure maximum points.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s home or it’s away, it’s something that you have to bring every game: it’s 90 minutes of concentration,” defender Raúl Rodríguez said postgame. “We were, as I said, 70 or 65 minutes in control of the game; we just have to bring that to all of the game.”
While the team felt hard done by the penalty call that ended up deciding the match, defender David Horst was pleased with the “grit and determination” the Dynamo showed after the early setback. In his eyes, with the attack producing chances on goal, being focused the full match on defense will put the team back on track as home games against Seattle Sounders and LA Galaxy loom to start April.
“From the first whistle, we have to tighten things up in the back and not give up those chances, not put ourselves in bad positions like that. … If we can clean it up a bit in the back, going forward, I think we’re going to be really tough to beat.”
