A dominating start led to another deflating ending for the Houston Dynamo on Sunday afternoon at BBVA Compass Stadium.
The Dynamo took hold of proceedings and took a 1-0 lead thanks to a nonchalant lob from returning captain Giles Barnes, but went under pressure in the final minutes before surrendering their second stoppage time equalizer of the young season. This time, a cross from substitute Oalex Anderson was tipped away by goalkeeper Joe Willis, only to touch off of Raúl Rodríguez and into the path of Chad Marshall for the goal and a 1-1 result.
“We’re five games in and I’m already sick of saying ‘hey, we’re getting unlucky,’” Dynamo forward Will Bruin said. “Got to be three points, plain and simple.”
DaMarcus Beasley agreed: “It’s tough to swallow, for me we can’t keep saying ‘it’s bad luck, bad luck.’ It always happens. Something’s not right, whether it’s the mentality of our team, or whatever. But we have to nip this in the bud because we can’t keep going on like this.”
In head coach Owen Coyle’s eyes, the Dynamo could have prevented the pressure and the final scoreline with a second or third goal earlier on.
“We had opportunities to pick them off, could’ve easily got that second goal,” he said in the postmatch press conference. “And when you don’t get that second goal you leave yourself open to a sucker punch and that’s what happened.”
The Dynamo will certainly take positives from the opening stanza, which showcased the attacking style that has put opponents on the back heel for at least portions of all of their matches. But alongside that, the team is learning lessons to ensure they bring in full points down the road.
“We’ll take the hurt and the disappointment but we’ll certainly move forward looking to replicate those performances but making sure we’re learning our lessons, in terms of game management in those last five minutes, making sure we see that out without being under undue pressure,” Coyle said.
Those lessons will need to be applied to the field quickly, as the Dynamo welcome the LA Galaxy into town on Friday (5:45 p.m. CT, TICKETS).
“It’s tough, it’s definitely a punch in the gut but you know the best way to heal is to get back out there on Friday and do what we can to get the three points,” Bruin said. “In this league every point matters, and luckily it’s a short week so we get to get back out on the field on Friday. We just have to take our medicine and learn from it.”
