Nine-man Houston Dynamo FC fall 2-0 at home to LAFC

 

photo credit: Houston Dynamo FC

Houston Dynamo FC fell 2-0 to LAFC at Shell Energy Stadium tonight after finishing the match with just nine players on the pitch.

 

Defender and captain Antônio Carlos was shown a red card in first half stoppage time after being deemed to have fouled Son Heung-Min outside of the box. In the 76^th minute, midfielder Agustín Bouzat was shown a red card after being deemed to have fouled Son as the last defender on an LAFC attack.

 

Notably, the match featured two Dynamo debuts. Midfielder Matthew Arana became the youngest player in Dynamo history to earn first team minutes when he entered the match in the 88^th minute. The 15-year-old signed a Homegrown contract last week, becoming the 20^th Dynamo Academy product to sign a Homegrown first team contract. The previous youngest player was former Dynamo player Juan Castilla, who made his debut on Oct. 31, 2021, versus the Colorado Rapids at the age of 17.

 

Rookie Houston Dynamo 2 defender Agustin Resch, who was signed to a short-term loan for tonight’s match, made his debut at the start the second half. The towering Argentinian was selected by the Dynamo in the 2026 MLS SuperDraft out of Seton Hall University and signed a second team contract last week.

 

Additionally, Club legend Héctor Herrera made his first appearance for the Dynamo since the 2024 season when he entered the match in the 76^th minute to a roar of approval from the sellout crowd at Shell Energy Stadium. The Mexican international signed with the Dynamo at the start of the year.

 

LAFC took the lead in the 56^th minute when Marco Delgado found the back of the net from outside the box.

 

Stephen Eustaquio doubled LAFC’s lead in the 82^nd minute after finding the bottom left corner from outside the box.

 

Houston’s first chance on goal came in the 16^th minute when midfielder Jack McGlynn played a dangerous ball to the box, finding Carlos for a header that forced a Hugo Lloris save.

 

In the 37^th minute, goalkeeper Jonathan Bond was called into action twice in the span of seconds, denying a right-footed curler by Denis Bouanga before getting back up to his feet to block away a left-footed shot by Son. The Englishman finished the night with four saves.

 

Bouzat almost put Houston on the board in the 47^th minute, hitting the crossbar with a strike from near midfield.

 

Bond delivered another impressive save in the 53^rd minute, putting his body on the line to stop a close range shot from Son.

 

The Dynamo created another dangerous chance in the 86^th minute after winger Lawrence Ennali dribbled into the goal area and forced Lloris to get on ground for the save.