The Houston Dynamo saw their 10-game home unbeaten run come to an end after a disputed red card reduced them to 10 men midway through the second half. With a man advantage, the Philadelphia Union scored twice in the final 20 minutes to defeat the Dynamo 3-1 Wednesday night at BBVA Compass Stadium.
Continuing with their habit of scoring early, the Dynamo took the lead in the 10th minute. The scoring move started as midfielder Tomás Martínez delivered a pass to forward Mauro Manotas in the final third of the field. Manotas laid the ball off to midfielder Boniek García, who returned it on a give-and-go to Manotas. The Colombian collected the ball and slipped a right-footed shot past Philly goalkeeper Andre Blake for his career-high 11th goal of the year.
Philadelphia evened things up just after the half hour mark in controversial fashion. In the 34th minute, midfielder Borek Dockal played a through ball to midfielder Alejandro Bedoya on the edge of the Houston penalty area. Bedoya slipped behind the Dynamo back line and chipped a right-footed shot inside the far post to level the match. The Dynamo argued that Philadelphia forward Cory Burke came from an offside position to screen defender Jared Watts, preventing him from covering Bedoya, but referee Joseph Dickerson, in consultation with Video Assistant Ismael Elfath, determined that there was no offside offense and the goal was allowed to stand.
The match was a back-and-forth affair for the first 15 minutes of the second half, but in the 59th minute the Dynamo went down a man after Martínez was sent off by Jefferson following a Video Review. After initially whistling for a goal kick after Martínez attempted to put a shot on target, Jefferson went to the video and determined that Martínez was guilty of “a serious foul play for endangering the safety of the opponent” when he stepped on the foot of Union defender Auston Trusty on the play.
Burke put the visiting team on the lead after receiving a through ball by Dockal in the 70th minute. Much like Philadelphia’s first goal, the Dynamo had a shout for offside on the goal, but like the first, Houston’s shouts fell on deaf ears.
Despite being down a man, Houston continued to take the fight to Philly and nearly equalized on a cross from midfielder Memo Rodriguez to Manotas, but the ball missed the Colombian striker by inches.
Philadelphia closed out the match in the sixth minute of stoppage time through a penalty kick from forward Fafa Picault.
The Dynamo will turn right around and travel to Oregon to face the Portland Timbers on Saturday, July 28 at Providence Park. Kickoff is set for 10:00 p.m. CDT and the match will be televised live throughout the Houston area on KUBE 57.
Houston Dynamo (7-7-6; 27 pts.) 1-3 Philadelphia Union (8-10-3; 27 pts.)
MLS Regular Season Week 22
July 25, 2018 – BBVA Compass Stadium; Houston, Texas
Attendance: 13,094
SCORING SUMMARY:
HOU: Mauro Manotas 11 (Boniek García 5) 10
PHI: Alejandro Bedoya 2 (Borek Dockal 7) 34
PHI: Cory Burke 5 (Borek Dockal 8) 70
PHI: Fafa Picault 4 (penalty) 90+6
LINEUPS:
Houston Dynamo: Joe Willis; Adolfo Machado, Jared Watts (Andrew Wenger 74), Alejandro Fuenmayor, Adam Lundkvist; Boniek García ©, Tomás Martínez, Darwin Cerén; Alberth Elis (Memo Rodriguez 76), Mauro Manotas, Romell Quioto (Arturo Alvarez 81)
Unused subs: Chris Seitz, Leonardo, Luis Gil, Eric Alexander
Total shots: 15 (Mauro Manotas, Romell Quioto 4); Shots on goal: 5 (Alberth Elis, Mauro Manotas 2); Fouls: 19 (Darwin Cerén, Alejandro Fuenmayor 4); Offside: 1 (Mauro Manotas 1); Corner kicks: 3 (Mauro Manotas, Romell Quioto, Memo Rodriguez 1); Saves: 2 (Joe Willis 2)
Philadelphia Union: Andre Blake; Keegan Rosenberry, Mark McKenzie, Auston Trusty, Raymon Giddis; Harris Medunjanin, Alejandro Bedoya (C); David Accam (C.J. Sapong 56), Borek Dockal (Warren Creavalle 88), Fabrice-Jean Picault; Cory Burke (Fabian Herbers 70)
Unused subs: Fabinho, John McCarthy, Marcus Epps, Jack Elliott
Total shots: 12 (Fafa Picault 4); Shots on goal: 5 (Alejandro Bedoya, Cory Burke, Borek Dockal, Fafa Picault, C.J. Sapong 1); Fouls: 10 (David Accam, Keegan Rosenberry 2); Offside: 2 (Cory Burke, Fafa Picault 1);Corner kicks: 7 (Borek Dockal 4); Saves: 4 (Andre Blake 4)
DISCIPLINE:
PHI: Keegan Rosenberry (caution; foul) 45+1
PHI: Mark McKenzie (caution; unsporting behavior) 53
HOU: Tomás Martínez (ejection; violent conduct) 59
PHI: C.J. Sapong (caution; foul) 65
HOU: Darwin Cerén (caution; foul) 90+2
HOU: Alejandro Fuenmayor (caution; foul) 90+5
OFFICIALS:
Referee: Joseph Dickerson
Assistant Referee 1: Jefferey Greeson
Assistant Referee 2: Kevin Klinger
Fourth Official: Jose Carlos Rivero
VAR: Ismail Elfath
