DC United was able to bring home a point as they drew the Houston Dynamo 1-1 on the road at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston on Wednesday night. Hector Herrera scored in the 40th minute for the Dynamo, while Tai Baribo scored in the 78th minute to help the Black-and-Red split the points.

“[It was] a very good point,” head coach René Weiler said after the match. “We did a good first half in my opinion, but we considered too easy this goal before the half time, so maybe [it was] not deserved to be 10 down. Then the second half was tough. So at the end, a very good point against not only a good opponent against the heat and humidity.”

The match started tight as newcomer Andre Dozzell got the starting nod in midfield ahead of normal starter Matti Peltola. In the heat and humidity of Houston, the Black-and-Red tried to settle into the match while Houston maintained much of the early possession. Still, the action was fairly slow in the first 25 minutes of the match.

In the 26th minute, Houston got their first real chance of the match as Mateusz Bogus got free to fire a shot on goal. However, Sean Johnson was able to get on the turf to make the save comfortably. DC United’s first real chance came in the 35th minute, when Louis Munteanu collected the ball on the right side about 30 yards from goal and, given space, fired a shot. The shot was a laser that went just over the bar.

In the 40th minute, Houston struck first. It was Hector Herrera who got the ball off a free kick when Felipe Andrade headed the free kick service towards him just inside the box. Herrera fired a low shot that snuck past an outstretched Sean Johnson into the net to give the Dynamo a 1-0 lead.

DC United tried to fight back, but the Dynamo took the 1-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The second half started and the first major chance came from Houston a couple of minutes in, when Mateusz Bogus collected the ball about 40 yards from goal and, finding a seam in the DC defense, dribbled right through the middle to get a shot on goal from around 7 yards from goal. Sean Johnson made a terrific save to keep DC in it. The Black-and-Red had issues getting the ball out of their defensive third, with Houston putting a lot of early pressure on them.

In the 53rd minute, Matti Peltola checked into the match for Jackson Hopkins, who had picked up a knock just a couple of minutes before. While he walked off on his own power, it was enough for head coach René Weiler to make the change. Still, DC United was not able to generate any serious offensive opportunities.

Just after the second half hydration break, DC United got the equalizer. Off a Keisuke Kurokawa throw in, the long throw was headed through the box by Lucas Bartlett. Nathan Ordaz, who subbed into the match in the 67th minute to make his DC United debut, headed the ball down in front of the net and Tai Baribo was there to finish it in traffic. it was Baribo’s 9th goal of the season for the Black-and-Red, and it leveled the score at 1-1.

That gave both teams about 15 minutes of level soccer to try and grab the winner, and the tempo elevated from that point. As the match entered stoppage time, Houston had a couple of chances to put a shot on frame, but wasn’t able to go for goal. In the 3rd minute of stoppage, Guilherme Santos was able to get a shot off from 25 yards out, but Johnson was able to make the save.

Houston had a couple more opportunities, but DC’s defense stonewalled them each time. The referee blew his whistle for full time, and DC United was able to share the points with the Dynamo. Afterwards, René Weiler praised his midfield for sticking it out and helping them to the draw.

“We had some good combinations, we created core goal chances, and we were close to score ourselves a goal,” Weiler said. “[The] second half was a little bit more difficult, but we did a lot of substitutes, and at the end they played all a very good game and I’m happy with the performance from our midfield.”

The team has a quick turnaround, as they return home to face Toronto FC on Saturday night at Audi Field.