Down a man for the final half-hour, the Houston Dynamo fell by a narrow 2-1 margin to the Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) this evening at Banc of California Stadium.
LAFC opened the scoring in the ninth minute when forward Diego Rossi tapped in a ball that was crossed through the box by defender Mohamed El Munir. LAFC took advantage of a takeaway in the middle third and quickly moved into the attack, with midfielder Jose Cifuentes drawing a defender before slipping a pass to El Munir to set up his centering ball.
In the 22nd minute, LAFC went two goals up when midfielder Jesus Murillo put his foot on a loose ball in the box after a corner kick, sending it to defender Eddie Segura who blasted a first-touch shot through the Houston defense and into the back of the net.