Houston Dynamo forward Ezequiel Ponce had two goals, including a go-ahead score during stoppage time to give his club a 4-3 victory over San Diego FC on Saturday at Snapdragon Stadium.
Ponce sealed the victory during the 10th minute of stoppage time — the match’s 100th minute overall — via a left-footed shot from in from of the goal that landed in the lower right portion of the net. His teammate, defender Ethan Bartlow, picked up the winning assist.
“The consistency of our principles wasn’t there,” SDFC head coach Mikey Varas said of the match. “Certainly not in the first half.”
“We weren’t on the same page in terms of being collective and being intense,” he added.
Ponce’s goal was the culmination of what had been a spirited and somewhat surprising back-and-forth round of second half scoring between the two clubs. San Diego came into the match in first place in MLS’ Western Conference standings and Houston was eighth, but the Dynamo lived up to its name throughout the night, matching San Diego goal for goal before eventually taking home the win.
Ponce’s other goal came during the 87th minute, when he connected on a penalty kick to the lower left portion of the net, which tied the score 3-3.
San Diego did have its moments, however. During the 67th minute, San Diego midfielder Onni Valakari scored via a left-footed shot from the front of the goal to the bottom right corner of the net to give SDFC a 3-2 lead. Teammate Anders Dreyer was credited with the assist.
In the 54th minute, SDFC defender Luca Bombino tied the score 2-2 with a left-footed shot from left of the goal to the net’s central zone. His Danish defender teammate Jeppe Tverskov picked up the assist.
“We know we did a lot of things wrong,” team captain Tverskov said of the loss, adding that the players were not in rhythm and did not always play in their agreed upon spots on the pitch. “That’s unfortunate.”
“It’s a tough loss,” he added.
Houston led San Diego 2-1 at halftime when, during the second minute of first-half stoppage time, Dynamo right-back Franco Escobar connected with a right-footed shot that went into the middle-right zone of the net, giving Houston the lead.
San Diego forward Milan Iloski scored the first goal of the match, a right-footed shot from the center of the box to the bottom center of the goal during the 25th minute. Valakari was credited with the assist.
The match became tied 1-1 during the 36th minute of the match after Houston winger Lawrence Ennali connected with a left-footed shot from the center of the goal to the bottom right corner of the open net. He was assisted by midfielder Amine Bassi.
SDFC star player Chucky Lozano, who has been dealing with hamstring issues off and on all season, came in during the 56th minute, but had a quiet game. He’s been used as a reserve since returning from injury in San Diego’s June 28 win at FC Dallas.
San Diego entered the Dragon on Saturday riding a four-game win streak and with the best record in MLS’ Western Conference. Despite the loss, SDFC still tops the conference with a record of 12-6-3 and 39 points. And with its latest victory, Houston now improves to 7-9-5, with 26 points.
Up next, SDFC travels to face the Chicago Fire at Soldier Field on July 12. San Diego then plays its next three matches at Snapdragon Stadium: July 16 vs. Toronto; July 19 vs Vancouver; and July 25 against Nashville.
The club is also scheduled to face Mexican team CF Pachuca at home on July 29, with that matchup being part of the Leagues Cup, an annual competition between MLS and Liga MX clubs.
Notes: Midfielder Alejandro Alvarado Jr. and defender Andrés Reyes will each miss the remainder of the season, SDFC announced July 3. Alvarado Jr. sustained a right knee injury in the 70th minute of San Diego’s 5-3 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps on June 25. Reyes, who had been on the injured list for about a month with a hip issue, underwent surgery in late June.
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