D.C. United 1, Houston Dynamo 3 | 2017 MLS Match Recap

Colin Stephenson

Following its epic failure in midweek, blowing a three-goal lead and losing to Seattle Sounders, D.C. United was hoping to bounce back in a big way at home on Saturday against a depleted Houston Dynamo at RFK Stadium. Instead, visiting Houston blitzed their hosts with three goals in the first 17 minutes to send them on their way to a 3-1 victory, their first road win of the season.

Andrew Wenger opened the scoring in the sixth minute, heading home a corner from Alex (three assists) and Mauro Manotas finished a nifty pass from Alex to make it 2-0 in the 15th minute. Memo Rodriguez headed home a cross from Wenger in the 17th minute to make it 3-0. Bobby Boswell got D.C. on the board in the 62nd minute, heading home a cross from Lloyd Sam.

Goals

6' – HOU – Andrew Wenger Watch
15' – HOU – Mauro Manotas Watch
17' – HOU – Memo Rodriguez Watch
62' – DC – Bobby Boswell Watch

Three Things

GOOD AS GOLD: Houston were without four regular starters who were away at the Gold Cup, but they were still plenty good enough. The Dynamo were also without starting left back DaMarcus Beasley, a last-minute scratch due to a sore hamstring and a wet field, but that didn't matter, either. Wilmer Cabrera has handled squad rotation masterfully.

UNLUCKY SEVEN: Since taking a 3-0 lead in the second half of Wednesday's game against Seattle, D.C. United surrendered seven straight goals before ending that streak with Bobby Boswell's goal in the 62nd minute. They gave up four straight in the final 39 minutes of the shocking 4-3 loss to the Sounders, and three straight in the first 17 minutes against Houston. That's an aggregate 7-0 over a 56-minute span across the two games. That's a tough stretch for any defense.

EFFICIENCY BEATS VOLUME:
With their counterattacking style, Houston rarely enjoys the bulk of possession in games. But even so, 34 percent possession against D.C. United is not a lot of time with the ball. But the Dynamo is crazy efficient with their limited possession. On Saturday, where D.C. put just five of their 15 shots on goal, the Dynamo put six of their eight shots on target. They scored on the first three of them.