The Houston Dynamo dropped a 1-0 contest to the Montreal Impact Saturday night at Stade Saputo. A goal in the final minute of the first half was enough to put the hosts on top for good against a Dynamo team playing its third game in nine days.
The Impact took the lead in the 44th minute on a second-chance opportunity after an initial save by goalkeeper Joe Willis. Montreal midfielder Raheem Edwards took a shot that Willis parried away, but as the Dynamo defense tried to clear the ball, midfielder Samuel Piette won it back and passed it to midfielder Jeisson Vargas. The Chilean took a right-footed shot from outside the area and placed the ball in the top left corner of the net, out of the reach of a diving Willis.
The Dynamo were the more dangerous side early on and had the first dangerous opportunity of the match in the 19th minute. Midfielder Memo Rodriguez sent a cross to forward Alberth Elis in the middle of the box, but the Honduran was just inches short from connecting with the ball in front of an empty net.
Montreal immediately answered the Dynamo with a counterattack that was cut out by defender Kevin Garcia. The Impact earned a corner kick and after an initial clearance, midfielder Ignacio Piatti fired a right-footed shot that hit the crossbar and caromed down, where Willis was able to claim the rebound.
The Dynamo continued to search for the breakthrough goal in the first half. In the 31st minute, midfielder Arturo Alvarez recovered a ball in the final third and sent it to Elis on the right side. Elis got in front of Montreal goalkeeper Evan Bush but put his shot just wide of the right post.
The Dynamo struggled to break through in the second half as Montreal sat deeper to protect their lead, but La Naranja created a dangerous threat in the 57th minute when Elis received a pass from Alvarez on the right side of the box and took a right-footed shot that was saved by Bush.
Dynamo captain DaMarcus Beasley made his 100th start for the club across all competitions, becoming the 23rd player in club history to reach the century mark, while midfielder Eric Bird started in his Major League Soccer debut and played the full 90 minutes.
The Houston Dynamo return to MLS play next Saturday, June 9 at BBVA Compass Stadium when they host the Colorado Rapids at 8 p.m. CDT. Before that, though, they will open their 2018 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup campaign on Wednesday at home against NTX Rayados, an amateur team from the Dallas area. That match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. CDT. Tickets for both matches are available at HoustonDynamo.com.
Montreal Impact (4-10-0; 9 pts.) 1-0 Houston Dynamo (5-5-3; 18 pts.)
MLS Regular Season Week 14
Saturday, June 2, 2018 – Saputo Stadium – Montreal, Quebec
Attendance: 17,512
SCORING SUMMARY:
MTL: Jeisson Vargas 4 (Samuel Piette 3) 44
Montreal Impact: Evan Bush; Chris Duvall, Rod Fanni, Jukka Raitala, Daniel Lovitz; Saphir Taïder, Samuel Piette; Raheem Edwards, Jeisson Vargas (Ken Krolicki 62), Ignacio Piatti ©; Anthony Jackson-Hamel (Alejandro Silva 75)
Unused subs: Rudy Camacho, Dominic Oduro, Clément Diop, Matteo Mancosu, Marco Donadel
Total shots: 6 (Ignacio Piatti 2); Shots on goal: 3 (Raheem Edwards, Ignacio Piatti, Jeisson Vargas 1); Fouls: 7 (Seven players tied, 1); Offside: 4 (Anthony Jackson-Hamel 2); Corner kicks: 2 (Saphir Taïder, Jeisson Vargas 1); Saves: 1 (Evan Bush 1)
Houston Dynamo: Joe Willis; Adam Lundkvist, Kevin Garcia, Leonardo, DaMarcus Beasley ©; Eric Bird, Luis Gil (Mauro Manotas 63), Boniek GarcÃa; Arturo Alvarez (Romell Quioto 58), Alberth Elis (Tomás MartÃnez 80), Memo Rodriguez
Unused subs: Chris Seitz, Conor Donovan, Eric Alexander, Andrew Wenger
Total shots: 6 (Alberth Elis 2); Shots on goal: 1 (Alberth Elis 1); Fouls: 13 (Alberth Elis 4); Offside: 2 (Leonardo, Mauro Manotas 1); Corner kicks: 1 (Arturo Alvarez 1); Saves: 2 (Joe Willis 2)
DISCIPLINE:
HOU: Alberth Elis (caution; foul) 29
HOU: Luis Gil (caution; foul) 33
MTL: Raheem Edwards (caution; foul) 65
HOU: Adam Lundkvist (caution; foul) 69
HOU: Tomás MartÃnez (caution; foul) 84
OFFICIALS:
Referee: Robert Sibiga
Assistant Referee 1: Jason White
Assistant Referee 2: Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho
Fourth Official: Silviu Petrescu
VAR: Geoff Gamble
