The first half was a very eventful one as it seemed as if you blinked, you would miss something happen. It started off in the 4th minute when Houston Forward Romell Quioto had the first opportunity to open scoring when he piked the ball from the center of the box. The game seemed to be physical from the opening kick as there were 2 fouls within the first 22 minutes of the first half. The first goal of the game at the 20-minute mark when Dynamo Forward Erick Torres was setup by a beautiful free kick, and rifled it into the back of the net to give the Dynamo a 1-0 lead. In the 22- minute mark a foul came from both teams. In the 33rd minute the a yellow card was given to Sounders defender Chad Marshall. Dynamo answered back with their 2nd goal of the match from forward Romell Quioto at the 42-minute mark, wrapping up the action packed first half.
The second half was not much different from the first. Both teams were getting quality looks on target. There were 2 yellow cards for both teams as Erick Torres was shown the yellow card after he was warned for a delay of game. Román Torres defender from the Sounders received a yellow for using a NFL like tackle on Dynamo’s midfielder DaMarcus Beasley which left Beasley down on the ground for a few minutes. The Dynamo fans breathed a huge sigh of relief when Beasley got back up on his feet and stayed in the game. The biggest highlight of the 2nd half came in the 58th minutes when Sounders forward Clint Dempsey used that golden left foot of his to rifle a shot past Houston’s goalkeeper Tyler Deric for his first goal since returning to the MLS, and the first and only Sounders goal of the game). The Sounders pressed in the final 5 minutes of the match, but couldn’t breakthrough the Dynamo defense to tie or take the lead as the Dynamo would hold on for the 2-1 win. The win marked coach Wilmer Cabrera’s first win as Head Coach.
Following the match Cabrera praised his guy, but kept the win in perspective. “We know the guys we have. All I’m looking for is for out guys to keep attacking”. “So far, it’s been tough. A win over the reigning [MLS Cup] Champion in the opener of the 2017 season is a positive. We’re really happy, but it’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be tough. We have to be measured about what we believe, but we continue to believe in what we’ve been doing and hopefully this will get better. We’re going to try to grow game by game.” Cabrera was very humble and knew that this was only game one of many this season. He, also knows what this team has been through in the past year. It was a fantastic win for the Dynamo to start the season and the Wilmer Cabrera era here in Houston. Next week the Dynamo face off against a Columbus Crew SC team that is coming off of a 1-1 tie against the Chicago Fire. Dynamo will be at BBVA Compass Stadium on March 11th kicking off against Columbus Crew SC at 7:30 pm CT.