Hector Herrera, Amine Bassi help Houston Dynamo to home opening win over Austin

Hector Herrera was acquired by the Houston Dynamo to help win games. That's exactly what he did on Saturday night.

The Dynamo earned a 2-0 victory over rivals Austin FC in the reopening of Shell Energy Stadium. Amine Bassi converted from the penalty spot in the 71st minute before Herrera iced the game with his first MLS goal in the 86th minute.

"I think this victory was very important for us," Herrera told reporters after the match. "In the previous games, the result had not accompanied us, but the team's performance had been quite good. It had to be solidified with a win, with goals. Today was full circle. The team did a good job offensively, defensively. That is the path we want to take."

The win was the first for the club during the 2023 season. Houston was on the road for its first two games and came away empty-handed from both trips.

In front of a good crowd for its home opener, the team collected its first three points of the season. It was also the first victory for head coach Ben Olsen.

First goals for Bassi and Herrera

One of the biggest advantages that can be taken from this match is having two key players find the back of the net. If the team starts to get on a roll offensively, this is certainly the game they can point back to as the catalyst for that run.

Amine Bassi was brought in this past offseason to help generate goals. Injuries early in the season have kept the former Ligue 2 player from being more involved until recently, and he hadn't looked overly promising from the little we had seen so far. 

With a penalty conversion, good enough to be the game winner against Austin, perhaps Bassi can start to provide more promising outings in the attack. He is the biggest wild card on the roster and the Dynamo need him to be a home run signing.

"His performance was really high level today," said Olsen. "Helping us keep the ball makes a lot of little plays, to add up possessions. He's got a final ball, which is something we're lacking right now."

Herrera has been heavily involved in the attack through the first three games. On Saturday, he earned Man of the Match honors for his goal and involvement throughout the 90 minutes.

Aside from the Mexican's goal, the Dynamo's only effective formula for scoring had been through set pieces. If these goals can inspire confidence and bring out the best of the two players, perhaps there is a better season than expected for Houston.

"As a player you always want to score goals, win the games," said Herrera. "The most important thing was to get the victory. With a personal goal on top of that, even better. The people deserved it, they waited for it a long time."

Defense gets first shutout

Olsen made it a point to highlight the shutout earned by his defense. A few changes in the starting XI made it seem as though Daniel Steres was playing right back, but the game showed more of a line of three that proved just good enough to withstand Austin's pressure.

Now, anyone familiar with Austin FC's best version can point out that the visitors were hardly a threat aside from a few opportunities. That's not the Dynamo's fault; they fared well against what they were given on this night.

"As important it is to put up shutouts," Olsen said in response to the importance of the goals. "Defensively, we don't tell those guys enough. I felt Teenage [Hadebe] was really good, and Ethan [Bartlow] had his best game. I’m proud of those guys to keep a high, high scoring team off the board."

Steve Clark came away with some good saves — perhaps nothing overly notable but still a solid outing for a goalkeeper that needed confidence and a night like this to re-establish his authority as the starting goalkeeper.

The defenders weren't perfect but, again, they were good enough at home. In helping get the win, they've bought themselves more time to only get better.

Three important points

The Dynamo needed to come away with three points. Even though it was just the third match of the season, this was as "must win" as things will get this season.

Why? Because the team may not have recovered from this result both on the sporting side and with its fans. The club needed this result to validate its offseason changes, to prove there's some hope for success, and buy some faith with the hardcore fans that wanted nothing more than to have this victory over Austin.

"I’m just glad we could get a win at home," said defender Daniel Steres. "We needed to get some points, get the ball rolling and get some confidence going on the season. You'd like to do that to an in-state rival and a team that's got a good offense and should be at the top again this year."

Historically, the club has been trying to catch up from behind in recent seasons. This year, they've secured a start on the right foot considering they are perfect at home, even if it's just one game.

With the way the current team is built, this is truly going to be a game-to-game assessment. The next test will be a New York City FC side in transition but still quite capable of taking a road result.