Houston Dynamo rallies to earn draw at Minnesota United

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:13 am

Niko Hansen scored the game-tying goal in the 83rd minute as the Houston Dynamo rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to earn a 2-2 draw with Minnesota United on Sunday night in Saint Paul, Minn.

Memo Rodriguez also scored for Houston, which outshot the Loons, 15-4, while snapping a two-game losing streak. Marko Maric finished with one save.

Ethan Finlay scored two goals and Dayne St. Clair had six saves for Minnesota, which extended its unbeaten streak to four games (1-0-3).

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Minnesota, playing for the first time since Oct. 6 after having games with FC Dallas and Chicago postponed because of positive COVID-19 tests, jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute when Finlay chipped in a Robin Lod crossing pass from the right side of the box. The play was set up by a nifty breakout pass at midfield from Kei Kamara to Lod, who then found a wide-open Finlay.

Finlay then got his brace in the 30th minute, taking a through pass from Jacori Hayes just outside the box and then firing a left-footed shot past Maric and into the right corner of the net for his fourth goal of the season.

Houston just missed cutting the deficit in half in the 34th minute when Mauro Manotas blasted a curling right-footed shot from outside the box that a diving St. Clair deflected with his fingertips off the bottom of the crossbar.

Ethan Finlay and Robin Lod
Ethan Finlay and Robin Lod
David Berding-USA TODAY Sports

The Dynamo made it 2-1 in the 59th minute, taking advantage of a Hayes turnover for a four-on-two break that ended up with ex-Loon Darwin Quintero setting up Rodriguez on the right side of the box. Rodriguez then fired a right-footed shot into the left corner, snapping a club record 349-minute goal-less streak by St. Clair.

Hansen then tied it in the 83rd minute when he booted in a loose ball in the middle of the six-yard box past St. Clair for his second goal of the season.

The Dynamo had a chance to win it in the 90th minute but Darwin Ceren's header from the middle of the box bounced off the crossbar.