Diego Luna scores a banger, but Houston holds off RSL 2-1 in Leg 1 of playoff series

Luna equalized in the second half off a counter attack from Andres Gomez and Anderson Julio, but RSL couldn't hold the lead as the Dynamo took Game 1 late, 2-1.

Real Salt Lake always knew it was going to be a Herculean task to upset the Houston Dynamo on the road in the first leg of the best-of-three playoff series Sunday night.

Diego Luna was almost up to the task, though.

Luna scored his a goal for his third-straight match across all competitions, but the Dynamo realized the equalizer just over 10 minutes remaining in regulation to hold off Real Salt Lake, 2-1 in the first leg of the MLS Cup Playoffs first-round series Sunday night at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, Texas.

The 20-year-old U.S. youth international has grown immensely in his first full season with Real Salt Lake since transferring from El Paso on a then-USL Championship record transfer fee.

But that growth means little compared to the personal growth Luna has experienced in recent months following the birth of his first child, a boy.

“I’ve had the motivation of my new son, and it’s changed the way I’ve been thinking,” he said. “It’s a thing in my own mental state where I’ve helped myself, and you can see that it’s working.”

Salt Lake left Chicho Arango (hamstring) and Justen Glad (adductor) back at home to rehab and prepare for next Monday’s home leg in the best-of-three series. The expectation is to get both of those players back by the time RSL returns home to host the second leg of the playoff series, along with center back Marcelo Silva, who was away on bereavement leave while dealing with a death in the family.

As for Sunday, that left a three-man back line led by Brayan Vera, converted winger Bode Hidalgo and fullback Braian Oviedo, and Herrera took advantage in the first half. The immortal 33-year-old Mexican international and Houston captain took one touch in the box from Coco Carrasquilla and Nelson Quinones before slamming the ball inside the far post to give the Dynamo a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute.

Houston held 74% of possession in the first half, and out-shot the visitors 9-2 with the only two shots on goal before the break.

All things considered, it probably could’ve been much worse for RSL, who had a chance from Jefferson Savarino cleared off the goal line shortly before the break.

Even moreso when Luna equalized in the 54th minute, finishing off a counter from second-half sub Anderson Julio on the fast break to become the youngest goal scorer in a playoff game in RSL history.

“It was a counter attack, and I think we’re good at it,” Luna said. “It’s something that I think we can use to our strengths more often. We took advantage of what we saw.”

Salt Lake had an advantage. But it wouldn’t last.

Griffin Dorsey took a right-footed shot from inside the box that Zac MacMath parried down. But the dropped ball fell into no man’s land, and Amine Bassi fired it home in the 79th minute to give Houston all the edge it needed the rest of the way.

“I thought we did a good job stepping, and then we turned over the ball at the top of the box,” RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni said of the second goal. “We were in a moment of transition getting out, and turned the ball over at the top of the box. Obviously, Houston did really well with it; you’ve got to have second and third actions against these guys. When they break lines, they come quick and they come with numbers."

“I thought in the second half, we were a bit more aggressive in the way we wanted to play … We’ve just got to be better with the ball, and take our chances. But the effort was fantastic. That goal was a tough pill to swallow.”

RSL will host Houston in the second leg of the best-of-three first-round playoff series next Monday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. at America First Field.

Suddenly, it’s do-or-die for the Claret-and-Cobalt.

“We’ve got to now re-pivot and figure out the best mode of attack going into the home game,” Mastroeni said. “I think it’s going to be a different game, and we’ve got to take advantage of this opportunity, to get a week’s worth of training and approach it the right way. Missing a few players, we knew it was always going to be difficult, and then we lost Bode. We were scrambling a little bit … But I think we put ourselves in a good spot with 10 minutes left; we’ve just got to be better in those moments.”