On Friday, New York City FC traveled down south to take on a Houston Dynamo side with a strong record at BBVA Compass Stadium. Despite that, the Texas-based club is yet to beat the MLS club introduced in the 2015 season with the last meeting in the south resulting in a 2-0 win for the visitors' courtesy of a David Villa brace.
First Half
Alberth Elis nearly put the hosts ahead just after the one-minute mark as his diving header hit the post. At the other side, just minutes later, David Villa made no mistake with his opportunity as he pounced on a failed clearance from Eric Alexander. El Guaje's clinical nature gave the visitors a sixth-minute lead.
Houston began to apply some pressure in the 20th-minute forcing Sean Johnson into a tough save. Just moments later, on a set piece which resulted from Houston's pressure, Alejandro Fuenmayor, who earlier injured Yangel Herrera, knocked home a Romell Quioto to equalize the score.
David Villa continued to lead counterattacks for the remainder of the half but neither his side nor the hosts were able to break the draw despite a strong Quioto strike on the brink of halftime and the two sides went into the break tied at 1 goal apiece.
Second Half
Some trickery from Tomas Martinez dragged multiple defenders out of position in the 56th minute before releasing Mauro Manotas. The Colombian's cross was hit too hard for an outstretched Alberth Elis. Just minutes later, Martinez set up Quioto who had a great opportunity to give the hosts the lead but Sean Johnson made yet another spectacular save.
NYCFC continued to see shots directed at their goal and Sean Johnson continued to come up big. Tomas Martinez later gave his side the lead in the 69th minute through a mistake from Ebenezer Ofori. After the goal from the Dynamo, Patrick Vieira substituted his two wingbacks and brought on Ismael Tajouri-Shradi and Jesus Medina, two players with more attacking ability.
From there, NYCFC began to attack more but that comes with consequences. A corner kick for the visitors saw Houston spring into a counterattack. Elis' original header saw Johnson make a fabulous save but "El Pantera" tucked home the rebound and the hosts had a two-goal lead with about a decade of minutes remaining in the game.
The game ended 3-1 in favor of the hosts and NYCFC lost to the Houston club for the first time in club history.
What's Next?
The Houston Dynamo will follow up their Friday night game with a game in Utah vs Real Salt Lake. After that, the Montreal Impact will play host to the Texan team before the Dynamo returns home to host the North Texas Rayados in the US Open Cup.
As for the visitors, they have quite a tough run of games coming up. First, they'll welcome Orlando City SC to Yankee Stadium before their US Open Cup match vs Hudson River rivals, the New York Red Bulls. Then, they'll welcome Atlanta United and Toronto FC to wrap up their MLS home stand.