The Dynamo begin the season with a tie!
Written by Rosendo Castillo
Revised by Jorge Sapon
The Dynamo looked to open their 2024 MLS campaign against Western Conference rivals Sporting Kansas City Saturday night. The team was looking to rebound from a 2-1 loss to St. Louis SC, Tuesday night in Concacaf Champions Cup.
Head Coach Ben Olsen used the same lineup from Tuesday with the exception of Sebastian Ferreira who suffered a hamstring injury in the first half of the match. Aliyu was shifted to the striker position and Smith got the start at left wing.
The first half of the match was pretty tame and not a lot of action offensively coming from either side except for a save from goalkeeper Clark in the 22nd minute to keep things nil-nil. The Dynamo believed to have opened up the scoresheet in the 42nd minute after a header by Smith reached the back of the net from a dime of a pass by Carrasquilla. The goal was disallowed after a VAR check determined there was an offside on the play. With that being bit of action in the first half, the teams go nil-nil into the locker rooms.
The second half of the match returned with the same lineups that finished the first half.
The second half began the same way with very little action but a lot more possession of the ball from the home team. It was not until the 61st minute that SKC’s, Erik Thommy picked up a bad clearance around midfield and dribbled it all the way to get a low shot off into the far post for the first goal of the game. The 67th minute brought the first two substitutes of the match for the Dynamo which gave, Ján Greguš and Gabe Segal, both their Dynamo MLS debut. They replaced Brooklyn Raines and Brad Smith.
It didn’t take long for Segal to open his scoring account when he scored a flying header that went over Tim Melia’s hands. The goal was assisted by Aliyu who headed the ball across the face of goal from a beautiful switching cross by Coco. The game would end in a 1-1 draw where the Dynamo and SKC split the points in their MLS opening day match.
The Dynamo will now set their sights on their next CCC match at home Tuesday night with kickoff is set for 9:30pm central time.