In the first 3 minutes, the Dynamo would come out sharp on both ends of the field. They would gain 2 corner kicks and barely miss both headers. On defense, the Dynamo were very aggressive, and it seemed like the home crowd was propelling the team. FC Dallas would have an opportunity on a breakout but would come away with nothing on a great takeaway by Dynamo’s defender Leonardo. The atmosphere at BBVA Compass Stadium was electric. The best it’s been all season if I may say so myself. FC Dallas would start to put more pressure on the Dynamo defense as they would start to be more aggressive and try to break away every chance they had. Dynamo though would come up with some huge stops. The biggest save wouldn’t be from goalkeeper Tyler Deric. It would be from defender Dylan Remick from the seat of his pants. In the 13th minute, the Dynamo would have their best chance of the early going. After a few dazzling moves to get the ball up field, forward Erik “Cubo” Torres would drop a nice pass off for forward Mauro Manotas, but Manotas’s shot would miss the back of the net by the slimmest of margins. In the 19th minute, the Dynamo’s aggressive play would pay off as defender Adolfo Machado would send a bomb downfield to Cubo, who then would send a rocket into the back of the net to open the scoring. The goal would make it 1-0 Dynamo. That would be Cubo’s 11th goal of the year. After Cubo’s goal, the 1st half would be back in forth with the 2 teams at a stalemate. The Dynamo would go into the locker room up 1-0.
The start of the second half was fast and furious. Both teams going shot for shot at one another. The game would get even more physical as in the 55th minute, FC Dallas’s defender Atiba Harris would get handed the first yellow card of the match. In the 59th minute, FC Dallas’s leading goal scorer forward Maximiliano Urruti would knot the game at 1 as his shot went off a Houston defender and into the net. In the 63rd minute, Houston would bring in striker Alberth Elis in hopes of a stronger attack. The weather was surely affecting these player’s energy. The game quickly would pick up in the 79th minute when a scrum would break out between the 2 teams. Instigated by Dynamo defender Alex. No punches were thrown, but it definitely woke up the Houston crowd. The game would go into 4 minutes of extra time tied 1-1. In the extra time, Houston would be the aggressor on offense but wouldn’t end up with the game winner as the game would end in a draw. 1-1 would be the final score as both games in the Texas Derby this season have ended in a draw. This was a very controversial and physical game that the Dynamo can say is a positive in their season.
After the game, the mood of Wilmer Cabrera’s press conference was one of anger. Anger at the refs and anger at the players on the FC Dallas sideline. The pace of the game in the last 20 minutes was slowed down by the FC Dallas players faking injuries and delaying the game. Wilmer criticized the refs for not giving an opposing player a red card on a foul, and then not giving the Dallas player a yellow when it was a no call.
The Dynamo will be back at home Wednesday, July 5th as Houston faces off against the Montreal Impact in the Open Cup at 4pm CT. FC Dallas will be at their home stadium Toyota Stadium Thursday June 27th to take on Colorado Rapids in the Open Cup at 7pm CT.
