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| File photo by Darla Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved |
Special Correspondent for TexSport Publications
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved
HOUSTON, TEXAS (July 25, 2018) Beneath the full moon at BBVA Compass Stadium, the Houston Dynamo lost a hotly contested game against the Philadelphia Union, 3-1. The first half of the game saw the Dynamo offense frustrate the Union’s defense and nine minutes into the game Mauro Manotas score his 10th goal in as many games. Most of the first half of play was focused on the Philadelphia goalbox with seven shots on goal to the Union’s one. In the 33rd minute a goal scored by Union player Alejandro Bedoya, went under review and ruled it as a good goal. After this goal, the Union started showing sparks of life in the offense with a few fantastic saves by the Dynamo goalkeeper, Joe Willis, kept the game 1-1 going into halftime.
In the second half of the game, the Dynamo’s
game started unraveling, leaving everyone in the stadium scratching their heads
and wondering what they were seeing. A yellow card was issued to the Union’s
Mark McKenzie in the 53rd minute. In a
fantastic drive down the field in the 58th minute, Tomas Martinez (shown above right) set up for a
goal when the on-field referee blew the whistle, halting play and issued
Martinez a red card for “serious foul play”. The play was reviewed by the VAR, (Video
Assistant Referee), and the issued red card stood. In watching the playback, Tomas stepped on a
Union players foot. In the press conference following the game, Houston head coach
Wilmer Cabrera stated, “none of us on the field knew what happened,....I
haven’t seen anything like that in my life.” He went on to state that the game
was, “out of control, out of control of discipline.” When Martinez questioned
the red card, no one could give him an answer. When Oscar Boniek Garcia, the
Dynamo captain, questioned the referee, there was no answer. When Cabrera
questioned the call to the fourth official on the sideline there was no answer.
The fans also expressed their displeasure of the call loudly and only continued
to get louder by letting the on-field referee know that they didn’t appreciate
his officiating. An additional yellow card was issued to the Union’s number 17,
C. J. Sapong. After the 60th minute the game was no longer controlled by the
Dynamo. The Union scored in the 70th minute by on a goal by Cory Burke and in
the 96th minute by Fabrice-Jean Picault. The goal by Picault was the result of
the yellow card issued to the Dynamo’s, Alejandro Fuenmayor, which created a
goal kick for Picault.
The game ended in a 3-1 loss by the Dynamo.
There was a grand total of five yellow cards and one red card issued between
the twp teams during the course of the game. The Dynamo are back in action
against the Portland Timbers in Portland on Saturday, June 28 with a 7:30 p.m.
CST kickoff.
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