Houston Dynamo captain Héctor Herrera was forced into an early exit in the Dynamo’s 4-1 win over Real Salt Lake on Saturday night.
In first-half stoppage time, with the Dynamo leading 2-0, Herrera went down after an awkward play and was replaced by Sebastian Kowalczyk. After the game, head coach Ben Olsen said that a timeline wasn’t yet clear.
“Looks like his hamstring,” Olsen said. “We’ll see how bad it is. I don’t anticipate him playing Wednesday.”
The injury was the only blemish on an otherwise excellent night for the Dynamo, who grabbed an emphatic three points against a Western Conference rival.
Losing Herrera, though, would be a further blow for a team that has already dealt with plenty of injuries. Nelson Quiñones went down for the season in February, and fellow attacker Lawrence Ennali suffered a torn ACL two weeks ago. Herrera himself missed time early in the season with a knee ailment.
He is a key ingredient in the middle of the park for the Dynamo. The longtime Mexican international arrived as a Designated Player two years ago from Atletico Madrid.
In his absence, Houston will have to rely more on midfielders Artur and Coco Carrasquilla.
The Dynamo sit in the thick of the Western Conference playoff hunt, amongst a few teams battling for home-field advantage. More challenges lie ahead: they host Vancouver Whitecaps FC (8:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass) on Wednesday, then travel to Austin FC on Saturday (8:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
