FC Dallas, Dynamo settle for 1-1 draw

Petar Musa's 69th-minute goal answered Amine Bassi's score late in the first half to help visiting FC Dallas earn a 1-1 draw against the Houston Dynamo on Saturday night.

Trailing 1-0, Dallas (3-6-3, 12 points) stepped up its second-half pressure and took advantage of an own-end Houston turnover. Musa gained possession, then dropped the ball for Jesus Ferreira to find Bernard Kamungo, who sent a cross for the open Musa to notch his fifth goal of the season.

That score overshadowed Bassi's goal in the sixth minute of first-half stoppage time for Houston (5-5-3, 18 points). With the result, FC Dallas, who won 2-0 at home over Houston last month, pushed their unbeaten streak in the Texas Derby to 1-0-3 and retained bragging rights.

It was just the second point in six road matches for Dallas this season.

Houston, amid a 1-3-2 stretch, was the aggressor early in the match with Griffin Dorsey forcing Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes to be on his toes with stops quickly out of the gate. The Dynamo, who finished with 61.3 percent of the possession in the match and owned an 8-1 shots-on-target advantage, regained their pressure pace.

Just before the break, Daniel Steres got the ball on the left wing and sent a stellar pin-point pass through the box for Bassi to convert his first MLS goal in 11 matches this season after recording 10 in 28 contests last season.

Dallas, however, showed life after 10 minutes passed in the second half. Ferreira had an open look from the center of the box at the 56-minute mark, but his shot went high. In the 66th minute, veteran Dynamo keeper Steve Clark pushed away a bounced header from Sebastien Ibeagha off a Dallas corner kick.

Just three minutes later, Dallas finally answered when Musa, Kamungo and Ferreira teamed up. Meanwhile, Clark took an apparent knee to the head on the play and was forced to leave, and be replaced by 30-year-old Andrew Tarbell for his first 2024 league action.