HOUSTON – Unlike their slow start to the 2018 U.S. Open Cup, the Houston Dynamo came out of the gate flying against the Austin Bold and survived a sluggish second half to prevail 3-2 in front of 4,765 fans.
The early pressure by the Orange lead to the game’s first goal in the 14th minute courtesy of Tomas Martinez.
Matias Veras dribbled past two defenders in the box and laid off a pass for Marlon Hairston. The winger shot the ball but it ricocheted off an Austin Bold defender. Luckily for the Dynamo, the ball bounced to Martinez who one-timed a left-footed shot in the back of the net.
The onslaught continued and in the 31st minutes, Ronaldo Peña got on the scoreboard through some beautiful link-up play from the Dynamo.
It started when Juan David Cabezas, who saw his first minutes of action since May 18 when he logged one minute, tackled the ball away from a Bold player and onto the path of DaMarcus Beasley. The left-back spotted Martinez in the box and slipped him a pass.
The Argentine-midfielder took a couple of touches on the ball before crossing across the face of goal and dropping in front of Peña. The Venezuelan forward took care of the rest, smashing it into the back of the net.
Ten minutes later, it was Peña’s turn to pick up an assist after scoring a goal.
Vera slipped a pass to Peña inside the box and kept his run going. Peña, seeing Vera making the run, one-timed a cheeky pass back to midfielder, who sidestepped one defender before blasting it past Bold ‘keeper Diego Restrepo.
😍 that link up play tho pic.twitter.com/WTL4TQ3LiR
— Houston Dynamo (@HoustonDynamo) June 12, 2019
While the Dynamo enjoyed success in the first half, the Bold make sure the second half had a different taste and feel. And it started minutes after the second half kickoff.
The Bold earn a free kick some 30 yards from goal. Bold midfielder Xavier Báez stepped up to take it and sent a low shot straight through a gap in the wall. The ball deflected off Cabezas and into the back of the net.
Wall Don't Lie?? An @AustinBoldFC free kick is smashed off a @HoustonDynamo defender and into the net to make it 3-1 #USOC2019 pic.twitter.com/rOBNz8Ff8k
— U.S. Open Cup (@opencup) June 12, 2019
Ten minutes later, the Bold would nab their second of the night.
Demar Phillips jumped on a loose ball just outside the box and let it rip towards goal. Dynamo ‘keeper Tyler Deric parried the show away but it landed right to Isaac Promise who easily put it in the back of the net.
Houston would hold on for the 3-2 victory but it would sweat it out. While the Bold didn’t get as clear an opportunity as with their two goals, it still put pressure on the Orange defense.
Houston moves on to the next round of the U.S. Open Cup.
Jesus Acevedo Jr. is the Editor-in-Chief of The Bayoucitian. He’s an award-winning bilingual journalist from Houston, TX. A graduate of the University of Houston, he has written for the Houston Chronicle, La Voz de Houston, MLSsoccer.com, and ProSoccerUSA.
Before becoming a journalist, Jesus spent his early 20s drumming his way across Houston with two bands — Shortcomings and InsertNameHere. The memories that Jesus made as a musician were the seeds that started the idea for the comedy, Houmans: The Series.