Written by David Garcia
The Houston Dynamo have lost on the road against Sporting Kansas City by a score of 2-1.
Five minutes into the match, it appeared that Steve Clark had made a good save but after Chris Penso checked VAR for a possible handball, a penalty was awarded to Kansas. Johnny Russell would step up to take it and convert the penalty to give his team the lead within 7 minutes. Erik Thommy nearly doubled the lead in the 19th minute with a beautiful shot outside the box but the woodwork would deny his goal. Two minutes later, Luis Caicedo would almost tie the game with his long shot but his shot would hit the post. Penso would again check VAR after a Russell tackle on Nelson Quinones. After review, Russell would be issued a Red Card in the 39th minute. 12 minutes of stoppage time were added. Franco Escobar would be issued a Yellow Card in stoppage time. SKC would double their lead in stoppage time as William Agada would not miss the close range shot. During an eventful long stoppage time, Teenage Hadebe would poke the ball into the back of the net to pull one back for the Dynamo before the end of the half. The match would enter the half 2-1.
To begin the second half, Houston made a couple of substitutions. Corey Baird would enter for Quinones and Micael for Hadebe.
In the 60th minute, Artur would come in for Sebastian Kowalczyk. 10 minutes later, Griffin Dorsey would come in for Ibrahim Aliyu. Dorsey would be issued a Yellow Card and will miss the Texas Derby due to Yellow Card accumulation. Running out of time, Ivan Franco would come in for Hector Herrera in the 75th minute. Caicedo would be booked in the 83rd minute and will also miss the Texas Derby due to Yellow Card accumulation. 5 minutes of added time were added as the Dynamo looked for a late equalizer. Baird nearly tied it as from a cross, he was able to shoot but Tim Melia made a huge save to avoid the Dynamo from drawing. After the 5 minutes of added time, Chris Penso blew for the end of the match.
The Men in Orange will now travel to Fort Lauderdale to take on Inter Miami in the final of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final in search of their second trophy of the oldest tournament in U.S. soccer.