Playing in front of their home fans for the first time since Feb. 29, the Houston Dynamo rallied from a two-goal halftime deficit to capture a 2-2 draw with Minnesota United FC tonight at BBVA Stadium.
The match marked the first professional sporting event in the city of Houston to be played with fans in attendance since early March. An announced crowd of 2,486 had plenty to cheer about in the second half as goals from forward Darwin Quintero and defender Maynor Figueroa brought the Dynamo back from 2-0 down after intermission.
Playing on his 33rd birthday, Quintero rebounded from a missed penalty in the first half to put in a Man of the Match performance with a brilliant second half, scoring a goal and creating another.
Minnesota opened the scoring in the 11th minute through forward Kevin Molino and doubled their lead in first-half stoppage when forward Robin Lod put back a rebound after goalkeeper Marko Marić made a stellar diving save to deny Molino a moment earlier.
Quintero pulled a goal back in the 58th minute with a skillful volley that he lofted over Minnesota goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair and under the crossbar. Right back Zarek Valentin initiated the scoring play with a cross from the right flank searching for the head of Manotas. St. Clair raced off his line to punch the cross clear, but it fell to Quintero at the top of the penalty area, where he looped his volley home.
Houston leveled in the 69th minute with Quintero once again providing the spark. The Colombian curled a free kick from 20 yards that forced St. Clair to lay out in order to push it off the crossbar. Center back Maynor Figueroa was following the shot and reacted quickly to head the rebound home to make it 2-2. The goal was Figueroa’s first for Houston since joining the club ahead of the 2019 season.
The Dynamo will be back in action Wednesday night when they travel to the Windy City to take on Chicago Fire FC at Soldier Field. That match will mark the Dynamo’s first of the year against an Eastern Conference foe and the club’s first visit to Soldier Field. The match is set for a 6:30 p.m. CDT kickoff and will be televised live throughout Houston on QuestTEXAS Ch. 55 in English and TelExitos Ch. 47.2 in Spanish
