Houston Dynamo FC travel to face Real Salt Lake in Game 2 in the Round One Best-of-3 series on Monday, Nov. 6, with kickoff scheduled for 8:00 p.m. CT. A Houston victory would advance the Dynamo to the Western Conference Semifinals for the first time since 2017.
The fourth-seeded Dynamo lead the series 1-0 after earning a 2-1 home victory over fifth-seeded Salt Lake in Game 1 at Shell Energy Stadium on Sunday. Houston opened scoring in the 22nd minute after midfielder Adalberto “Coco” Carrasquilla headed a ball from forward Nelson Quiñónes to captain Héctor Herrera, who controlled the ball off his chest and sent it into the net with his left foot. Salt Lake scored an equalizer in the 55th minute on a breakaway run as Anderson Julio found Diego Luna in open space. Forward Amine Bassi netted the winning goal in the 79th minute. Bassi fired a left-footed shot into the roof of the net for his first goal of the postseason.
Sunday marked the first postseason meeting between the two clubs and Houston’s first home playoff victory since October 2017. The Dynamo now boast a 16-3-5 (WLD) record at home in all competitions this year. The result also marked the first time in Club history where two Dynamo players scored in their postseason debut.
After Sunday’s victory, Houston now holds a 3-0-1 (WLD) undefeated record versus Salt Lake in all competitions this year, including a 3-1 victory at home in the semifinal of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Aug. 23. The all-time regular season series is tied with 13 victories for each team and 11 draws.
In Houston’s previous trip to Salt Lake this season, the Dynamo returned with a 3-0 victory. Corey Baird scored the opening goal in the victory and that tally marked his fourth consecutive game with a goal. Daniel Steres scored his second goal of the season in the 29th minute after Herrera played a ball into the box for his 11th assist of the season. The final goal of the match came in the 75th minute after Aliyu Ibrahim found Carrasquilla at the near post. Goalkeeper Steve Clark also earned his 10th clean sheet of the season.
Dynamo fans are invited to watch the match at Pitch 25 on Monday evening. The watch party will include giveaways and a pop-up shop featuring Somos Fearless playoff merchandise.
If necessary, Houston’s playoff campaign, powered by Shell Energy, would return home on Saturday, Nov. 11 for Game 3 of the Round One Best-of-3 series, with kickoff scheduled for 3 p.m. CT. If Houston is victorious on Monday, the Dynamo would advance to the Western Conference Semifinals, which kickoff on Nov. 25.
Here are three key points ahead of Monday’s match: