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| Photo by Darla S Tamulitis La Vita Loca Photography Copyright 2021, All Rights Reserved |
Copyright 2021 All Rights Reserved
HOUSTON, TEXAS (August 21, 2021) Houston Dynamo FC trailed FC Dallas with less than 20 minutes remaining in the match, but a late goal tied the as the two Texas rivals had to settle for a 2-2 draw at BBVA Stadium on Saturday night. The stakemate pushed the Dynamo to a 3-8-10 record, for 19 points, while Dallas advanced to a 5-9-7 mark for the season, got for 22 points.
The Dynamo found the goal first, with a successful penalty kick by Fafa Picault in the 25th minute. It was the sixth goal of the season for the 30-year-old New Yorker, who played last season for Dallas. Fafa stated after the game:
"We obviously wanted to win and we haven't won in awhile and I think everybody is aware of that. It's not a great feeling coming out with a tie at home, but it's done now, there's some character. We obviously went up and wanted to hold that lead in along with scoring. But we fell behind 2-1 and then we found a way back in to get the second goal. There's some character, and some positive there but at the end of the day, we are bummed to not come out with three points."
After a hydration break in the 31st minute, the match continued with much give-and-take play, with neither team able to game any advantage, With six minutes of stoppage time added to the first half, the result was still the same, with Houston taking a 1-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.
However, Dallas was able to mount a comeback in the second half, Nine minutes late after returning to the pitch, defender Nkosi Tafari evened the score in the 54th minute, It was his first career goal for the 20-year-old, Tafari played his college ball for the Connecticut Huskies and Seattle Redhawks. Four minutes later, forward Ricardo Pepi gave Dallas a 2-1 lead.
After a strong offensive punch in the second half, Houston midfielder Matias Vera evened the score in the 72nd minute to close out the scoring. He was quoted after the game:
“This is bittersweet, we wanted to win for the fans today. I think we did lose focus for brief moment, the game just got away from us for a bit. Now, we have to focus on the road ahead. We have to win nine points during the remaining games, we just have to win.”
The result was the second tie of the year between the two sides, meaning that the annual Texas Derby rivalry series will be decided in the third and final meeting on Saturday, September 18 in Houston.
Houston will continue a four-game home stretch next weekend with a matchup with Minnesota United FC at BBVA Stadium. Kickoff for that game is set for 8 p.m. CDT on Saturday.
