San Antonio entered the fourth round of the US Open Cup for the third time in club history. SAFC faced the Houston Dynamo for the second time in Open Cup play, where the Alamo City boys fell 4-0 back in 2016. SAFC faced a tough but winnable battle having defeated Austin FC 2-1 in the previous round, marking the first time SAFC won over a MLS side.
Houston Dynamo came out with a unfamiliar lineup as they rest much the starters from their Saturday match up at DC United. The Dynamo made 10 changes with a mix of bench and reserve players that hadn’t played much together. It seemed the opportunity for SAFC to advance to the round of 16 for the first time.
Match was held scoreless through the first half, both sides hade chances but Houston was more on the attacking end. The deadlock was broken in the 83rd minute by Houston Dynamo Sebastian Ferreria. It was all the Dynamo need to advance to the round of 16.
San Antonio FC appeared to have a chance to tie it late when it appeared there was a hand ball in the penalty box by a Houston Defender. It was either not seen by an official or deemed to be the defender’s hand was in a natural position and not called.
Head Coach Alen Marcina
(On the loss…)
“I think overall I’m proud of the guys. In terms of their progression in Open Cup, to beat a couple very very good teams, in particular a very strong MLS opponent. Unfortunately our run is cut short today, we lost to a very good MLS opponent. Created a few high percentage opportunities, unfortunately we weren’t clinical enough to give ourselves an opportunity to potentially win the game. But all in all, if we look and reflect overall, we made a good run. I’m proud of the guys and we’ve got to now start to focus to Miami.”
Up Next
The Alamo City Boys now head to the sunshine state as they will face the Miami FC for the first time ever. San Antonio FC are in good position as they sit in second place of the USL Western Conference just three point behind Colorado Springs. SAFC still boast of the top defenses in the league and the team is getting healthier as players are returning from the injured list.
Miami FC is a good contest for San Antonio FC. Miami is in 6th in the Eastern Conference at 4-2-3 and given just 7 goals all season long, Miami’s offense has struggled but are dangerous. It will be a battle of two good defenses and early indications predict a 0-0 draw. San Antonio FC is capable of exploding offensively as we saw against Monterey Bay but it is a quick turnaround for the Alamo City Boys who just played on Wednesday in Houston. A draw would be a fair result for SAFC this weekend.
Soy San Antonio Fútbol 