Houston Dash put five past Chicago Red Stars in the NWSL Group Stage at Shell Energy Stadium on Wednesday evening. The hosts made it five from five in their last five outings, closing out a match that should have been tighter on paper but was never in doubt after the opening half. By then the visitors were already searching for answers.
K. Rader opened the scoring after five minutes, a sharp finish that caught the defence unawares. She doubled her tally before the break, and L. Ullmark added a third just after half-time when the visitors had their heads down. Chicago's yellow card to S. Staab on the stroke of the interval told you where the pressure was falling.
After the restart Houston worked the game at a comfortable pace, bringing on K. Rader, C. Larisey and K. van Zanten in the same window at the 61st minute. D. Colaprico went off for J. Joseph as the visitors tried to find something, but the hosts had already stretched the back line enough. L. Boattin added a fourth goal late on, and K. Faasse had grabbed the fifth before the final whistle.
Houston registered 71 attacks against 79 for Chicago, but the difference was in the finishing. Seven shots on target yielded five goals, while the visitors managed just three on target from 30 attempts. Possession sat at 53 per cent for the hosts, but the real story was in the big chances created — four to none.
The result keeps Houston in the hunt at 11th with 22 points from 22 games, while Chicago remain rooted at 16th on 16 points. The visitors have now lost 16 of 22 league matches and need a turnaround fast.