This game started out quickly as Houston made a nice play off a corner kick which eventually ends up on the head of David Horst who scores the first goal of the game in the 1st minute. The Dynamo lead was not long lived as in the 4th minute a deep ball gets caught up between 2 Dynamo defenders and bounces off to Giovanni Dos Santos who puts it past goalkeeper Joe Willis to make it 1-1.
Later in the 21st minute a steal in the midfield leads to a run down the left flank by Giovanni who puts a nice cross that the GK Joe Willis fails to properly clear and it ends free, in the box for Husidic to put it in easily. The Galaxy were on fire and had all cylinders running at this point. The defense really shutdown all the spaces and did not allow the forwards to gain any kind of possession. The midfielders for Houston couldn’t maintain control of the ball or establish forward momentum as well.
In the 31st minute Gerard sends a nice long pass from right to left, and Giovanni has a nice 1st touch to setup his right foot for a shot and goal from just inside the box. Could Giovanni be back? All signs were pointing at a possible hat-trick, but it was not to be. The final Galaxy goal came from Zardes in the 48th minute, by way of a nice cross from the right side by Lletget’s cross.
Dynamo Coach, Owen Coyle would insert 3 subs in the 57th minute to change things up, one of them being Cubo Torres. The Dynamo would shift the game a bit in their favor later in the game. They would generate some good chances. Cubo Torres and Miranda were key in holding some good possession up top as well as getting some chances at goal. Unfortunately for the home crowd, a Dynamo goal was not in the cards.
I was able to ask LA Galaxy coach Bruce Arena what he thought of the 3 simultaneous subs made by the Dynamo and he said it was a good move and that they brought some energy to the game and nearly made it an exciting ending.
In the locker room, Cubo Torres, gave some insightful comments on his play in the game, the National Team and his future activity with the Dynamo. ESPN FC’s Nayib Moran asked some good questions on his relationship with the Dynamo Manager and the possibility of future playing time, as well as his thoughts on the Mexico call up with the U-23 and Olympic team. I asked him how close he felt to scoring his first goal with the team and how he felt his movement was during the game going up against a tough and big defense in the Belgian center back, Van Damm. Listen to his comments in Spanish:
It was an entertaining match. Giovanni is making his way back and it will be exciting to see if he can regain his form to gain a spot with the Mexican National Team. Also, Cubo Torres, getting some playing time, even in defeat, is a good start and preparation for his U-23/Olympic squad participation.
Join us in further discussion on the Dos A Zero podcast, broadcasting live every Wednesday night at 9PM Central time. Follow us on Twitter for all the details to listen @DosAZeroPodcast!!!