Houston Dynamo FC continued their impressive run of form Saturday night, defeating Real Salt Lake 2-1 at Shell Energy Stadium behind goals from Guilherme and Mateusz Bogusz.
The victory marked Houston’s ninth unbeaten result in 10 matches since returning from the World Cup break and kept the Dynamo firmly in second place in the Western Conference. Houston also improved to an impressive 8-2-2 at home this season.
Guilherme once again proved to be at the center of Houston’s attack. The Brazilian opened the scoring in the 57th minute after Lawrence Ennali drove toward the endline and cut the ball back into the box. Guilherme collected the pass, shifted toward the middle and calmly fired a left-footed finish into the corner for his 13th goal of the season.
Real Salt Lake struggled to generate much offensively during the opening half, finishing the first 45 minutes without a shot on target and registering 0.00 expected goals.
But the visitors found their equalizer in the 76th minute when substitute Saba Lobjanidze finished a counterattack, chipping goalkeeper Jonathan Bond to level the match at 1-1.
Houston responded late.
In the 87th minute, Guilherme delivered another dangerous ball, this time finding Bogusz inside the right side of the box. The Polish forward wasted no time, unleashing a powerful strike past Rafael Cabral to restore Houston’s lead.
This time, the Dynamo would not give it back.
Bogusz’s late winner capped a night in which Houston controlled much of the attacking momentum and once again found a way to secure three points. Guilherme was instrumental throughout, contributing directly to another Dynamo victory and continuing a remarkable season in which he has played a role in 21 of Houston’s 32 league goals.
The Dynamo will look to keep the momentum rolling when they travel to face the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday, Sept. 12, at PayPal Park. Kickoff is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. CT.
