HOUSTON – The Houston Dynamo extended their unbeaten streak to four games following a 2-0 shutout win over red-hot Austin FC Saturday night at Shell Energy Stadium. Here are three things from Houston’s victory over Austin.
Texas Showdown
The Dynamo made the plays that mattered to take the first Copa Tejas match of the MLS season.
Ondřej Lingr and Ezequiel Ponce scored second half goals to give the Dynamo their second win in 10 games. It was a big one for the Orange. The win follows draws against Colorado (2-2) and LA Galaxy (1-1) and a 1-0 win over LAFC.The Dynamo (2-4-4) jumped to 10 points in the Western Conference, six below Austin, roughly one-third of the way through the season. Jonathan Bond earned his first clean sheet, the fourth as a team.
Austin (5-1-4) suffered its fourth loss of the season without the services of Brendan Hines-Ike, Brandon Vazquez and midfielder Dani Pereira, who left Saturday’s game, but remains second in the conference. Austin took two out of the three matchups last year.
But it’s the Dynamo that are heating up at the right time. It took them six games to score four goals, but they’ve matched that total in just the last two games– scoring six goals in their last four games.
Following Lingr’s opening goal, Ponce ripped a left-footed shot for his team-leading third goal and 2-0 advantage in the 79th minute. Griffin Dorsey added his fourth assist, which is also a team high.
“We are certainly going to enjoy this one,” Dynamo coach Ben Olsen said. “We played very well, especially in the second half. This one felt good. It’s been an emotional start to the season, but what I like about tonight is that we kept searching for more even after taking the lead. We have to make sure we punish teams after going ahead, so that was a really nice part of tonight’s match.”
Lingr strikes again
Lingr is fitting in well after signing with Houston on a full transfer from SK Slavia Prague late March.
After a scoreless first half, the 26-year-old midfielder from Czech Republic took advantage of an Owen Wolff mistake in the 61st minute and finished with a right-footed volley from outside the box through the legs of Oleksandr Svatok for the 1-0 lead.
Lingr, who made his first start of the season on Saturday, became the fourth Dynamo player in team history to score in his first two appearances. Lingr, who has logged 258 appearances across all club competitions, scored 43 goals at Slavia Prague over five seasons.
“Houston is quite different from Europe, and a new start is always difficult, but I’m grateful for the guys, staff and coaches because they have made me feel at home,” Lingr said. “For a player, that’s important because sometimes it’s hard to get used to a new team. My teammates have helped me a lot in feeling welcome, and I’m happy about that. The fans are amazing, and I’ve really enjoyed my time here so far. It’s also helping me feel confident on the pitch, and I hope to continue helping my team in every aspect.”
Olsen is thrilled for Lingr, who is a welcomed addition to a Dynamo squad that ranks in the bottom four in goals scored conference-wide at 10.
“We had an idea of the type of player [Ondřej Lingr] was when we brought him in,” Olsen said. “We know he can get on the end of balls, finish calmly in front of goal and put up some great numbers. We also know that he is going to get in the box and be the extra number that we need. …Lingr is a great guy, and he has fit in very quickly.”
For his output on Saturday, Lingr was named to MLSsoccer.com Team of the Matchday for the second consecutive week.
Raines shining
It seems like midfielder Brooklyn Raines is finally coming into his own.
Raines has played heavy minutes in the last three games, starting in the trio for a total of 252 minutes. In comparison, Raines played a total of nine minutes through the first seven matches. His showing against Austin might’ve been his best performance yet, according to Olsen.
“My first instinct was that was as good as I’ve seen him play for this club,” Olsen said. “He had a little bit of a delay there from being with the 20s and so now he’s getting some rhythm and offensively—clean, advanced the ball, showed some real power driving and making good decisions in possession. But out of position, he made a lot of little plays, a lot of tackles, a lot of duels that he won and that’s a real game for him, and hopefully can continue to grow.“
Twenty-year-old Raines, who holds a 95% accurate pass for the second highest on the team, just wants to keep rolling.
“Obviously, I’ve known a lot of the staff that have been around here, especially Kenny (Bundy), I’ve been working with Kenny a lot in trainings—Every day, I just try to do 1% more,” Raines said. “I’ve been growing a lot, I’m just continuing to build off that. It’s a blessing, really, how far I’ve come, and I just pray to continue to go off of that.”
The Dynamo will next take on LAFC on Saturday at BMO Stadium.