16,486 fans came out to BBVA Compass Stadium to see Columbus Crew SC fall 3-1 to the Houston Dynamo. The loss brought Crew SC’s record to 0-1-1 on the young MLS season.
“Well, first off give Houston a lot of credit,” Columbus Crew SC Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter commented. “They came out, got an early lead there and hung on. Were disappointed with the start of the game, obviously. We felt that we should have been up, should have been scoring before halftime and it’s too bad we didn’t. Our job now is to analyze the game but get rid of it as soon as possible. Because that wasn’t a good performance by our group.”
The scoring started early for the hometown Dynamo when Romell Quioto scored an unassisted goal in just the second minute.
Two more Houston goals would come in the 35th and 65th from Alberth Elis and Erick Torres respectively. The goal would be the second of the season for Torres. Alex would have a hand in both of these goals, bringing his total on the season to three. That is already a career-high for the São Paulo, Brazil native, who also recorded the first two-assist game in his career.
Forward Ola Kamara scored his first goal of the season and 17th career MLS goal in stoppage time, bringing the score to 3-1, which was the final tally. Kamara was assisted by Justin Meram, who recorded his 28th career assist and sixth assist over the past six regular-season matches. The midfielder is in ninth place on the all-time assist list for Crew SC.
“I think it’s difficult. Once you’re down early in the game that’s tough away,” Kamara added. “Then I feel like Houston got the game in their hands because they like the counterattack and they’re physical. I think they won the physical battle and that’s actually what made us lose this game.”
Defender Connor Maloney made his MLS debut for Crew SC coming on as a substitute in the 46th minute, while midfielder Artur made his first regular-season start and second appearance for the Black & Gold.
Crew SC next plays on Saturday, March 18 when it travels to RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. to take on D.C. United at 7:00 p.m. ET.
