Ondřej Lingr scores late equalizer in Dynamo debut to secure 2-2 draw

Photo by Darla S Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography, Copyright 2025 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2025 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (April 19, 2025) Houston Dynamo FC earned a dramatic 2-2 draw over the Colorado Rapids at Shell Energy Stadium on Saturday night, thanks to a last-minute goal from new midfielder Ondřej Lingr.

Lingr, who joined the Dynamo from SK Slavia Prague last month, made his debut in the 75th minute, making an instant impact by scoring in the 96th minute to tie the game. The play started with midfielder Jack McGlynn sending a deep ball into the box. Defender Franco Escobar headed it across goal to Lingr, who dove to head the ball into the far corner.

Forward Amine Bassi (shown above) gave Houston the lead earlier in the night with a goal in the 42nd minute. The play began with defender Griffin Dorsey and midfielder Sebastian Kowalczyk working a quick passing move to find Bassi in the middle of the box. It was Bassi’s second goal of the season. Kowalczyk now has assists in back-to-back matches.

The Rapids tied the game in the 59th minute after a penalty was called against Houston defender Femi Awodesu. Djordje Mihailovic scored from the spot to make it 1-1. Mihailovic helped Colorado take the lead again in the 77th minute, setting up Rafael Navarro for a goal to the far post.

The match also marked the debut of goalkeeper Jonathan Bond, who recently joined from Watford FC. Bond made a key save in the 20th minute, stopping a close-range shot from Mihailovic.

Kowalczyk nearly scored early in the game after a pass from Bassi, but his low shot was saved by Rapids keeper Zach Steffen. McGlynn also had a good chance in the 24th minute, but Steffen was there to block it.

Houston head coach Ben Olsen stated after the match:

“It was a great moment for him (Ondřej Lingr) to score the equalizer at theend. The substitutes came in and gave us really good energy. We played at a high level for large portions of the match tonight. We are growing, creating chances and looking more like us in the way we want to play. We are just making it hard for ourselves, but it sure beats losing. But it doesn't beat winning.”

The Dynamo will stay home next week to face in-state rivals Austin FC on Saturday, April 26. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT at Shell Energy Stadium.

Houston Dynamo FC dominates Colorado Rapids with impressive 5-1 victory

Credit: Houston Dynamo FC, Used with permission

By Chris Price
Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (October 7, 2023)  In an exciting soccer showdown, the Houston Dynamo FC displayed their strength by defeating the Colorado Rapids with a commanding score of 5-1 at Shell Energy Stadium. This thrilling win not only brought joy to their fans but also secured their spot to host an Audi MLS Cup Playoff match, setting the stage for an electrifying atmosphere for soccer enthusiasts.

This season, the Houston Dynamo FC has been nothing short of impressive when playing on their home turf. They've notched an impressive record of 15 wins, 3 draws, and 5 losses in all competitions. This remarkable performance has catapulted them into a position where they could finish as high as fourth in the fiercely competitive Western Conference standings.

The Dynamo's recent run of success has been nothing short of remarkable, boasting a record of 7 wins, 1 draw, and 4 losses in all competitions since returning to MLS play after the Leagues Cup on August 20. During this incredible stretch, they've outscored their opponents by a stunning margin of 27-8.

The Dynamo didn't waste any time asserting their dominance in the match. In just the third minute, defender Erik Sviatchenko and captain Héctor Herrera combined brilliantly with a one-two sequence at the edge of the box. The ball was then played wide to defender Griffin Dorsey, who spotted forward Nelson Quiñónes unmarked at the far post, allowing Quiñónes to notch his fourth goal of the year.

Five minutes later, the Dynamo doubled their lead when midfielder Adalberto "Coco" Carrasquilla played a perfectly placed ball over the top to Corey Baird. Baird, in turn, found fellow attacker Amine Bassi at the opposite post, resulting in the second goal of the first half and Bassi's impressive 10th goal of the season.

Quiñónes continued to shine, scoring his second goal of the evening in the 28th minute with a spectacular long-range effort from outside the box. This marked the 21-year-old's first brace for the Dynamo and added to the team's growing lead.

Baird further solidified his performance in the 41st minute, tallying the fourth goal of the evening. This goal came following a swift counterattack led by Carrasquilla, who skillfully played the ball wide to Baird. With this goal, Baird equaled his single-season goal record from his rookie season with Real Salt Lake in 2018.

The match featured a remarkable moment for Houston as it marked the second time this season that the Dynamo scored four goals in a single half, harkening back to their dominant performance against Portland on August 20.

Although the Rapids managed to prevent a clean sheet in the 53rd minute, courtesy of a goal by Cole Bassett, Houston responded with a fifth goal in the 84th minute. Bassi showcased his skills yet again, finding midfielder Artur with a pinpoint chip at the back post. The Brazilian didn't miss a beat, burying the ball into the far corner and securing his second goal of the season.

Late goal gives Houston Dynamo FC a draw against Colorado Rapids

Photo by
Darla S Tamulitis
La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly 

Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (March 19, 2022) Houston Dynamo FC trailed the Colorado Rapids after their score late in the first half,  but a late goal with one minute
remaining in regulation tied the score at 1-1 at PNC Stadium. The draw to enabled Dynamo to earn one victory point in their final home match of March.

The Rapids got on the scoreboard in the 42nd minute when midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye punched in the ball past goalkeeper Steve Clark, off a corner kick. 

Houston tallied four shots and four corner kicks in the first half, while the Rapids had five shots to go along with their four corner kicks.

In the 37nd minute, Houston attacker Fafa Picault when down on the pitch, causing medical personal to rush onto the pitch to check him out. After a few minutes, he was on his feet and continued in the game.

Colorado retained their one goal lead until the 89th minute. The Dynamo took possession of the ball, which allowed Memo Rodriguez started a run and aptly passed the ball to Tyler Pasher (shown above, No. 19). The Canadian approached the top of the box and drove the ball past goalkeeper William Yarbrough to score the equalizer. 

Houston had 12 shots and 11 corner kicks in the match, while the Rapids tallied six shots and five corner kicks.

The Dynamo will hit the road to face Miami on April 2 at DRV PNK Stadium. The will return the PNC Stadium on April 9 to host San Jose on College Night.

Photos from Houston Dynamo vs Colorado Rapids game on Saturday, August 17, 2019

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (August 18, 2019) Below are photos from the Houston Dynamo vs Colorado Rapids game at BBVA Stadium in Houston on Saturday, August 17, 2019. The squads battled to a 2-2 draw in front of 15,458 fans in Star Wars Night. All photos are by JB Fletcher of BigShot SnapShots (Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved). You can visit their website by clicking here.

Manotas' late goals secure draw for Houston Dynamo

Photo by JB Fletcher, BigShot SnapShots
Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (August 17, 2019) Two goals in the final minutes of the match powered the Houston Dynamo to a 2-2 draw against the Colorado Rapids at BBVA Stadium on  Saturday evening.

The 15,000-plus fans in attendance saw Colorado jump out to a 2-0 lead at halftime on Star Wars Night; and witnessed the Mario Manotas  (No. 7, shown right) score the two Houston goals within five minutes of each other. The Rapids took an early lead when forward Diego Rubio found the Dynamo out of position and blasted the ball into the net, in the seventh minute, for his eighth goal of the season. He also nailed the second goal of the  season; sliding it into the net in the 39th minute to put the score at 2-0 at halftime. Houston controlled the ball 66% of the time in the first half, along with taking 15 shots against Colorado's five. Unfortunately for the Dynamo, two of those five shots hit the mark, to take the two-goal deficit into the locker room at halftime.

Houston battled back in the second half, and maintained their possession advantage from the second half, to secure the draw under interim head coach Davy Arnaud. With the draw, the Dynamo raised their record to 9-13-4 (31 points) and maintained their ninth place standing in the Western Conference. The draw snapped a four-game losing streak for Houston and ended a three-game losing streak at BBVA Stadium. Arnaud was quoted about the start of the game.

“It’s obviously not how we wanted to start the game. It was not an ideal start. For me, you know, the structure that we’ve been on, the week that we’ve had, after that kind of start – there could not have been a bad response. We could of hung our heads and given up but I couldn’t be prouder of our group and their response in the second half. I thought it was fantastic. I thought it showed character. I thought it showed a commitment to the team. The kind of things that we have been talking about this week and how important we are for us to be our foundation for who we are going to be. They showed every single bit of that and for me that’s the biggest take away. The way that they came back in the second half and responded was fantastic.”

Photo by JB Fletcher, BigShot SnapShots
Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved

With the two scores by Manotas, in the 74th and 79th minute, the Colombian forward recorded his eighth career multi-goal game; which ties Will Bruin for the most in club history. Manotas needs ten goals in all competition to tie Brian Ching (69) for the club's career scoring record. He stated:

”Thank God, after that many shots we were able to put some away. Unfortunately, we paid for those mistakes we made. We scored the goals ourselves. This can only happen every  hundred years, as a Colombian writer said. We are now moving forward.”

Next up for Houston is a Saturday, August 24 road match against FC Dallas. Dallas in currently in eight place in the Western Conference with a 10-10-7 record and 37 points.

Houston Dynamo posts 2-0 shut out over Colorado Rapids

Photo by Darla S Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2018 A  Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (June 9, 2018) The Houston Dynamo posted two goals within six minutes of each other to top the Colorado Rapids by the score at 2-0 at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, Texas.

The first goal came in the 30th minute when midfielder Tomas Martinez found himself "in the right place at the right time" for his fourth goal of the season. The Argentinian started in 12 games this season and has scored six goals in his MLS career. Forward Mauro Manotas (No. 10 shown above) converted a penalty kick in the 36th minute to close the scoring in the match. It was the sixth goal of the year for the Colombian; matching his total from the 2016 season. “I hit the ball with my left and it bounced back, so I finished with my right. The truth is that he (Colorado goalkeeper Tim Howard) is a great goalkeeper who has a lot of experience and has been to World Cups. I’m content for scoring on him, ” said Manotas when talking to the media after the game.

Photo by Darla S Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2018 A  Rights Reserved

Houston pushed their record to 6-5-3 on the season and gave Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera (shown right) his 19th regular season win while leading the Dynamo. He was quoted after the game;

“We knew from the beginning that it was going to be a tough match with a team that normally is going to be waiting deep with five in the back and two or three defensive midfielders and only one guy up top. It’s a team that when they win the ball, they try to counterattack and capitalize on your mistakes. Today I’m really excited and happy because the players were really focused and concentrated on the game and they were aggressive. We went after them and we took control of the game really quickly and we started to create options. When we didn’t create options, we were moving the ball and trying to find them with our 50/50 balls and that is important. Sometimes, it’s not about just going forward, it’s about being able to move the ball well, and we did that today. We have to be patient and we were patient. So overall it was a good performance and we were able to score in the first half and that is, of course, very important for us. Then, with the second goal I think we were in control. We were cruising, and they got a red card which helped us to continue keeping the possession. At half time, I told the guys that we need to be sure that we don’t make any mistakes, that we don’t get sluggish like when we’re dribbling the ball; let’s play serious, let’s try to score another goal, and (forwards) Romell (Quioto), Alberth (Elis), and Mauro (Manotas), they were trying. They were pushing. They were trying. We created a couple of options. We hit the post two or three times and then the goalkeeper, Tim Howard, is excellent in saving, but I think it was a solid performance overall.”

Next up for Houston is a Monday, June 18 Lamar Hunt Cup match against Minnesota United FC at BBVA Compass Stadium. Kick off is set for 7:30 p.m. CDT

Stoppage-time goal by Colorado Rapids sinks Houston Dynamo 1-0

Photo by Darla S Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2017 All Rights Reserved 

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2017 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (September 9, 2017) After 90-plus minutes of heated and spirited play, the Colorado Rapids scored a single goal in second half stoppage-time to down the Houston Dynamo by the score of 1-0 on Saturday evening, September 9, 2017 at Houston's BBVA Compass Stadium. In a game that paid tribute to Houston, rescue personnel, and television and radio broadcasters who gave of themselves during the flooding and aftermath of Hurricane Harvey; the players and fans honored what has become known at "Houston Strong."

Prior to the game, the Dynamo were 10-8-8, with 38 points, while Colorado were 6-16-4, with 22 points. Houston head coach Wilmer Cabrera talked about losing to a lower ranked team.

“It just happens. We can talk about excuses, but you know what? We haven’t played in like two to three weeks. The guys were traveling. The hurricane, we had to travel and practice away maybe that affected that. We cannot make excuses. We thought we played well, but we didn’t played well. They fought and they found a goal and that’s it. Where they good with possession? No. We had the ball, we weren’t good with our possession because possession without purpose is not good. We had the possession without the possibilities, not great possibilities and that’s the reality. We have to understand that and we have to move on for the next game."

Colorado's goal came in stoppage-time from forward Dominique Badji, with an assist from forward Stefan Aigner on a counterattack, as the Dynamo threw numbers forward in search of a game-winning goal of their own. The loss snaps a 12-game home unbeaten streak for Houston, the longest-such streak for the club since a league-record 30-game home unbeaten run from 2011-13.

Goalkeeper Tyler Deric was quoted (after the game) about the game  being a lesson with the past events in Houston. 

“I think there’s a lot of positives to take away from this game. We didn’t play our best, we weren’t clicking, but I thought we played well. Just a little off, but other than that we fought hard. We worked hard and the team is going to stick together. We are united moving forward and we are really excited to get to San Jose next weekend.”

Houston will return to the pitch on Saturday, September 16 when they hit the road to face the San Jose Earthquakes.

Dynamo Face Colorado Rapids Tonight for Noche Naranja

Photo by Darla Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016 All Rights Reserved

Perfect weather as Dynamo host Tim Howard, second-place Rapids in Hispanic Heritage Night matchup

HOUSTON (Saturday, October 8, 2016) – The Dynamo host the Colorado Rapids at 7:30 p.m. CDT tonight at BBVA Compass Stadium on Noche Naranja presented by XFINITY.  Tonight’s weather forecast calls for clear skies and temperatures in the upper-70s at kickoff. The game will be broadcast over-the-air in Houston on KUBE 57 (channel guide), with pregame coverage starting at 7 p.m. The game can be heard in English on CBS Sports Radio 650 AM (KIKK) and the Radio.com app and in Spanish on Univision Radio 1010 AM (KLAT).

The Dynamo celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month tonight with Noche Naranja. The festivities include a pregame concert in the Bud Light Beer Garden with Bachata artist Antony Torres as well as Grupo KACHE, which combines traditional Latin flavor with modern rhythms. At halftime,Ballet Folklorico Azteca de Houston will perform on the field.

Fans may ride METROrail to the stadium free of charge tonight by showing their game ticket. The Green Line and Purple Line both serve the EaDo/Stadium station on Texas Ave. in front of BBVA Compass Stadium. The free METROrail offer is available for every Dynamo game this season.

Dynamo F Will Bruin and D Sheanon Williams both can make their 175th career regular-season appearance tonight. MF Boniek García can make his 117th career MLS regular-season appearance to pass Geoff Cameron for 10th on the club list. García also can set an MLS career-high with his 28th appearance of the season. Finally, García and MF Collen Warner have each set an MLS career-high with 18 consecutive MLS starts and can extend the streaks tonight.

The Rapids have engineered a drastic turnaround from 2015 to 2016 and are tied for the second-most points in MLS (51) after finishing in last place in the Western Conference with 37 points a year ago. Led by third-year head coach Pablo Mastroeni, the Rapids have the best defensive record in MLS by a wide margin, with just 27 goals against in 30 games.

The defense has been anchored by goalkeepers Tim Howard and Zac MacMath (six shutouts in 17 starts). Howard has started 13 of the last 14 games and recorded seven clean sheets after joining the Rapids in July following 10 seasons with Everton in the Premier League. Howard has 110 caps for the United States National Team and was the starter at the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups. The defense also includes Axel Sjöberg, Jared Watts, Marc Burch and Eric Miller.

Veteran midfielder Sam Cronin leads the club in starts (30) and minutes (2,676). Designated Player Shkëlzen Gashi has seven goals and four assists this season and played for the Albania national team at UEFA Euro 2016 this summer. Marlon Hairston has three goals and five assists, Dominique Badji has two goals and an assist in his last four starts and Texas native Dillon Powers has made 26 appearances this season.   

Tonight is the penultimate home game of the season for the Dynamo. Following the game, the Dynamo visit the Seattle Sounders on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. CDT kickoff; ROOT SPORTS). Houston will host the LA Galaxy on Sunday, October 16 in the final home game of the season

Houston, Colorado battle to scoreless draw in MLS action

Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography

 

By Robert H Kelly

Copyright 2015 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (March 28, 2015) Coming into Saturday’s game against the winless and scoreless Colorado Rapids, the Houston Dynamo were looking for quick ninety minute game and an easy win in their second home game of 2015. The Rapids had other plans as both teams battled to a scoreless draw in front of a nearly packed BBVA Compass Stadium on March 28, 2015. With the win the Dynamo raise their record to 1-1-2 (5 points) while the Rapids take a 0-0-3 record back to their Rocky Mountains’ home.

The Dynamo, who played the entire game with a noticeable command of the field, had 11 shots-on-goal, with none of them able to get into the net. In contrast, the Rapids drilled six shots towards the Dynamo net and none of them were able to put points on the score board.

Three yellow cards issued to the Houston Dynamo, the first in the 43rd minute to Ricardo Clark. Alexander Lopez received his in the 68th minute and KofiSarkodie was carded in the 84th  minute. The Rapid was not carded for any misconduct the entire game.

With the draw, Houston received one point to raise their total to five after four games. The Rapid also tallied one point for the draw, giving them three points for the season.

The Dynamo will next face Seattle on Saturday, April 4 on the road before returning home to play Montreal on Saturday, April 11. Colorado will next play New England at home on April 4 with a April 10 match-up against FC Dallas on April 10 in Dallas.