A tight, low-scoring affair was always the expectation against a Dynamo side that doesn't produce much offensively (outside of Guilherme, who was dangerous all night) and is very disciplined defensively - and that's what we got last night in Houston. But CITY grabbed all three points and jumped to 3rd place in the Western Conference on the back of hustle and skill from Simon Becher, a perfect read and setup from the sorely missed Alex Mățan, and a beautiful finish from Lukas MacNaughton. Let's break it down.
Lukas MacNaughton - Goal (90+7')
The sequence starts with a ball played to the left from Houston goalkeeper Jonathon Bond to Franco Negri, who turns upfield with it and is pursued by Simon Becher - full credit to Simon here for the effort, as he put his head down and sprinted back defensively. It didn't affect the pass Negri made to Duncan McGuire, but it put him in position to make a play on the ball after McGuire's poor touch ricocheted it backward.
As the ball squirts off McGuire's foot, you can see Alex Mățan read this and immediately begin a curved run upfield - showing off his wonderful awareness and feel for the game that has made him so indispensable for St. Louis. It deflects to Becher, and Simon makes a lovely outside-of-the-foot flick to Lukas MacNaughton, who sees Mățan in space and slides a pass that hits him in stride.
MacNaughton shows real determination and hustle here - it's the 97th minute of play in a match he was on the field for the entire time, and he immediately sprints after his pass. He deserves a ton of credit - especially when you consider the closest trailing Houston defender to him is Hector Herrera, who came on as a sub in the 63rd minute and essentially lightly jogs after the play instead of hustling back to try to get involved defensively.
From here, Houston goes into scramble mode as McGuire and Lucas Halter try to close out Mățan while Damion Downs makes a run on the far side of the box. Mățan neatly cuts the ball back and finds MacNaughton alone in space at the top of the box (with Herrera having a nice view from about 20 feet behind him) with a perfectly weighted pass to the CITY centerback, who hammers it home low and to the left of Bond to give CITY all three points.
This was like a "greatest hits" compilation of the things CITY was doing so well during their 21-match unbeaten streak this season - outstanding desire and hustle from multiple players, great reading of the play to create a counterattack opportunity, and Mățan being the playmaking distributor that powers the St. Louis offense. CITY will hope to build on this as the playoffs begin in a few weeks.
