Despite going down 2-0 at halftime to a San Jose Earthquakes squad already out of the playoffs, the Houston Dynamo mounted a comeback with three second-half goals, winning 3-2 Saturday night at BBVA Compass Stadium and keeping their slim playoff hopes alive.
The Quakes took advantage of a couple of Alejandro Fuenmayor miscues to grab their halftime advantage. In the 35th minute, a lively Tommy Thompson ran in toward goal and drew enough contact from Fuenmayor to draw a penalty, which Wondolowski converted to open the scoring for his 143rd career MLS goal. Then in the 45th minute, it looked as if he scored a second goal putting him one within Landon Donovan's career scoring record, but Fuenmayor was ruled to have beaten Wondo to the ball for his second own goal in Houston's last three league matches.
Within the first 11 minutes of the second half, Mauro Manotas did what he almost did at several points in the first half — got the Dynamo on the board, setting a team record in the process with his 15th goal of the MLS season. In the 68th minute, on a corner kick, Tomas Martinez bounced his shot around a far-post-guarding Nick Lima for the equalizer. Then, with less than four minutes left in regulation, halftime sub Romell Quioto broke in front of the Quakes goalmouth to chip in what would prove to be a season-extending goal — then ran into the crowd to celebrate.
Goals
- 37' – SJ – Chris Wondolowski (PK) | WATCH
- 45' – SJ – Alejandro Fuenmayor (OG) | WATCH
- 56' – HOU – Mauro Manotas | WATCH
- 68' – HOU – Tomas Martinez | WATCH
- 87' – HOU – Romell Quioto | WATCH
Three Things
- THE BIG PICTURE: Houston needed a win to extend their season, but considering other results around the league, including Seattle blanking Colorado earlier in the day, they may have only managed to extend it another week. Still, for the newly-crowned U.S. Open Cup champs, it's three welcome straight results after a ten-game winless streak. The Quakes, meanwhile, have now lost all three matches in the nascent Steve Ralston era, though they continue to show a renewed fire that will eventually burn away the patch of bad luck they're on.
- MOMENT OF THE MATCH: Quioto's goal broke an unlikely deadlock, and in the still-unlikely event that the Dynamo crash the 2018 playoffs, it'll be seen as the goal that saved the season.
- MAN OF THE MATCH: Though this match further cemented the importance of Quioto and Alberth Elis, both brought on as second-half subs, it also showed how vital Manotas has become to the Dynamo. He kept pressure on the Quakes in the first half, his inevitable goal was a screamer that made his current hot streak even hotter, and it was his interception and race toward goal that set Quioto up for his game winner.
Next Up
- HOU: Monday, October 8 at Seattle Sounders FC (10:30 pm ET | TV & streaming info)
- SJ: Saturday, October 6 vs. New York Red Bulls (10:30 pm ET | TV & streaming info)
