HOUSTON – In the 2023 MLS season, the Houston Dynamo lost two games at home. Such was their dominance at home that Shell Stadium took on the moniker of Hell in the Shell. The name is a nod to Houston’s blistering heat and the Dynamo’s tough-minded mentality at home.
Of Houston’s 51 points last season, 37 came from its home games, and each one was critical in helping the Orange return to the playoffs for the first time since 2018.
On Saturday, Houston’s second home game of the season, the Bayou City club attempted to pick up its first win of the season and set itself on the course for victory in the seven minutes when Coco Caraquilla spotted Aliyu Ibrahim isolated on the left wing. The Nigerian winger chested down the ball, got past the defender, and calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net.
But a revamped New York Red Bulls spoiled the early fireworks.
The Red Bulls converted two Dynamo turnovers into goals in each half, turning an early one-goal deficit into a 2-1 victory.
After the game, Dynamo head coach Ben Olsen said that while he hates to lose, he especially detests when the club loses at home.
“Give them credit, we played kind of into their strenghts a lot of times,” said Olsen. “I think we lacked a little personality in the first half.”
Olsen adds that his side didn’t make the plays that matter on both ends.
A Dynamo player did make a play that proved to be the difference maker, but it benefitted the Red Bulls.
In the 58th minute, defensive stalwart Artur sent a pass across the pitch in his half, but his pass didn’t make its intended target as New York forward Lewis Morgan picked up the pass, drove to the goal, and shot it past Dynamo’ keeper Steve Clark.
“It’s kind of blasphemous to say anything bad about Artur right now,” said Olsen when asked about Artur’s giveaway. “He’s been maybe the best player we’ve had for about a year and a half. It’s his first mistake so, we’ll give him a pass.”
The game and the three points were there for the taking on Saturday, but Houston’s self-inflicted wounds proved too much to overcome.
“We gave the game away with our mistakes, and that was unfortunate,” said first-year Dynamo Jan Gregus. “I think we started good, and we did what we wanted but we gave it away.”
Olsen agrees with his midfielder that Houston played well and added that his side should have pulled out the win despite the number of missing players.
“There’s a lot of positives, but it doesn’t really feel like it when you get one point out of two home games,” said Olsen. “But again, I think this is going to be a little patchy. We’ve anticipated it, and we’re going to have some ups and downs over the next few weeks to a month.”
Houston’s next MLS match is March 16, giving the Orange plenty of time to shift focus to the CONCACAF Champions League and its two-match bout with MLS Cup Champions, the Columbus Crew.
The Dynamo welcome the champions to Shell Stadium on March 9.
“We got a neat opportunity here with Columbus who is a very good team so we’re going to be tested again,” said Olsen.
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.