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Having lost a heartbreaker in the Leagues Cup final. but recovering two days later to beat Seattle to reach the final of the US Open Cup, LAFC turned its attention back to MLS play looking to gain some ground on the LA Galaxy in the race for first place in the Western Conference.
The Houston Dynamo however had other ideas. Carried by goals by Ezequiel Ponce and Lawrence Ennali, the Dynamo came into BMO Stadium and delivered a shock result, as they came out with the 2-0 win.
“We probably felt a bit leggy from the travel that we’ve had recently and it maybe got the most of us, but it’s not the excuse that we shouldn’t be taking,” LAFC’s Lewis O’Brien said
The result not only stops LAFC from closing the gap with the Galaxy for the top spot in the West, but it enabled Houston to pull into a three-way tie with Portland and Seattle for the sixth spot in the West. Neither team wants to fall into the eighth spot, as that would mean having to play a one-game elimination round to qualify for the playoffs.
The Dynamo grabbed the lead in the 28th minute under rather fortunate circumstances. Hector Herrera sent a free kick into the penalty area, the ball deflected off several players from both sides inside the 18-yard box before it fell to the feet of Ponce, and he took the right-footed shot just inside the six-yard box that beat keeper Hugo Lloris near post.
Perhaps more shocking than Houston grabbing the lead was them also neutralizing the vaunted LAFC attack for the most part. The Dynamo then all but sealed the match in the 72nd minute, as Franco Escobar sprung Ennali down the left side, with Ennali timing his run to get behind LAFC’s Ryan Hollingshead. Ennali then outraced the rest of the LAFC backline to dribble into the penalty area, sidestepped Lloris and slotted the shot into the open net to make it a two-goal lead for Houston, which then never relinquished.
“The intensity and concentration was there for today, we just got outplayed tactically,” Hollingshead said. They just had control of the game. We couldn’t get our finger on it and figure out what we need to
do to change the momentum.”
These two teams will be getting to know each other a little bit more, as they face each other again in the rubber match in Houston on Sept. 7.
