Houston Dynamo FC, Portland Timbers battle to scoreless draw

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 (April 16, 2022) Playing a man down for the final 15 minutes, Houston Dynamo FC battled the Portland Timbers for ninety minutes, plus 11 minutes of added time, to a scoreless draw in front of 13,650 fans at PNC Stadium on Saturday evening.

The first half saw Houston take control of the pitch, with eight shots as opposed to three by the Timbers. The "Boys in Orange" were unable to find the back of the goal due to some good goalkeeping by Portland's Aljaz Ivacic, along with some aggressive defensive play by the Timbers. Many of the black and orange clad fans in the stands thought there should have been a few additional yellow cards issued, but the officials on the pitch thought otherwise, leading to an unscored tie at halftime.

The Timbers receive two yellow cards in the first half; the first in the 16th minute to midfielder Cristhian Paredes and the second to Sebastian Blanco in the 27th minute. Dynamo defender Teenage Hadebe was also carded in the 27th minute for a foul.

The second half saw the aggressive play continue with more yellow cards being shown. Hadeebe received his second yellow card, which resulted in a red card, and his removal from the game in the 76th minute. He took out Yimmi Chara on the counterattack and was shown the second yellow (red) card by the official. Portland received two additional yellow cards in the second half. They were shown to captain Diego Chara in the 49th minute and defender Bill Tulloma in the 81st minute.

Dynamo head coach Paulo Nagamur talked about the match in the postgame press conference.

“Yeah, difficult game considering everything that happened throughout the 90-plus minutes. I think we played a very good team, Portland, we knew they were going to bring a different challenge considering what happened in the game with the red card. You know the game for the last 15 minutes, I think we could say that we are happy with the point. Definitely created enough chances in the first half to go ahead in the game and to end the game. Unfortunately, we couldn’t finish those but, again, pleased that we have points. Pleased with the fight of the group playing a man down, so just going to turn the page and go for the next one.”

The Dynamo had 14 shots for the game, as opposed to 11 by Portland. The Timbers led in corner kicks 12-4.

The draw give the Dynamo a 3-4-1 (W-D-L) record with 13 points after eight games. Portland increases their point total to 11, with a 2-5-2 record.

Next up for Houston and their MLS schedule is a Saturday, April 23 matchup against longtime rival FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. Earlier in the week, the Dynamo will face Rio Grande Valley FC on Tuesday, April 19 at BBVA Stadium in the U.S. Open Cup.