The Houston Dynamo returned to the friendly confines of BBVA Compass Stadium on Saturday night follow a disastrous two game roadie.
The hometown lads held their own in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League against Santos Laguna at home in a last second thrilling 1-0 win. Unfortunately the return leg to Santos ended the CCL run in a 3-0 defeat.
Dynamo then went on the road to the hated Dallas Burn (yeah I'm not calling them FC Dallas). After spotting the Burn a 2-0 lead, the Men in Orange roared back to even things up at 2-2. In the closing minutes it looked like the Dynamo would salvage a point on the road. The Burn stole a win with a last second goal and the Dynamo limped home with two loses.
From the get go, Houston dominated Vancouver all over the field. Possession, shots and corners all favored Houston. The only problem is the Dynamo failed to find the back of the net.
Unfortunately the Whitecaps managed to put one in the old onion bag. I was screaming at the Dynamo for a first half goal for a change. I didn't mean it for the Whitecap to score though. I'll give credit where credit is due. Darren Mattocks earned every bit of that goal in the 36th minuted. He made a beautiful move against the defense and blasted a shot from about 20 feet out. Dynamo keeper Tally Hall didn't have a chance.
It's not like the Dynamo didn't have chances to score. Warren Creavalle had three chances in the first half to net goals. All three shots ended up in the seats. At this point I'm lamenting how much the team misses Brad Davis.
Fortunes and opportunities changed in the second half. If it's one thing the Dynamo have it's a never surrender attitude. For a while I thought they looked rattled in the first half after the 'Caps goal. They gathered themselves and came out determined in the second half.
In the 55th minute the Dynamo equalized. In what seemed a slow but wonderfully developed play, Rico Clark put the ball where only Giles Barnes could reach it. Barnes out jumped two defenders on the perfectly placed ball and headed it in for the tying goal. Watching the goal on replay and it developed much faster and the pass was harder than I realized. Great team effort on the entire sequence.
For the game winner, the Dynamo struck with their bread and butter...the set piece. On a corner in the 62nd minutes, Adam Moffat put one in front of the goal that Will Bruin appeared to make contact on. The ball didn't go in but it was there for the taking. Creavalle this time made sure he didn't miss. As he went to the ground he poked it in and the Dynamo went up 2-1.
The Whitecaps didn't go quietly into the night though. In the end Hall stood big in goal and made saves. The Dynamo were also beneficiaries of a little luck. Mattock almost knotted up the game but his howling free kick bounced off BOTH posts and the good guys unbeaten home streak remained in tact.
Official highlights:
The hometown lads held their own in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League against Santos Laguna at home in a last second thrilling 1-0 win. Unfortunately the return leg to Santos ended the CCL run in a 3-0 defeat.
Dynamo then went on the road to the hated Dallas Burn (yeah I'm not calling them FC Dallas). After spotting the Burn a 2-0 lead, the Men in Orange roared back to even things up at 2-2. In the closing minutes it looked like the Dynamo would salvage a point on the road. The Burn stole a win with a last second goal and the Dynamo limped home with two loses.
From the get go, Houston dominated Vancouver all over the field. Possession, shots and corners all favored Houston. The only problem is the Dynamo failed to find the back of the net.
Unfortunately the Whitecaps managed to put one in the old onion bag. I was screaming at the Dynamo for a first half goal for a change. I didn't mean it for the Whitecap to score though. I'll give credit where credit is due. Darren Mattocks earned every bit of that goal in the 36th minuted. He made a beautiful move against the defense and blasted a shot from about 20 feet out. Dynamo keeper Tally Hall didn't have a chance.
It's not like the Dynamo didn't have chances to score. Warren Creavalle had three chances in the first half to net goals. All three shots ended up in the seats. At this point I'm lamenting how much the team misses Brad Davis.
Fortunes and opportunities changed in the second half. If it's one thing the Dynamo have it's a never surrender attitude. For a while I thought they looked rattled in the first half after the 'Caps goal. They gathered themselves and came out determined in the second half.
In the 55th minute the Dynamo equalized. In what seemed a slow but wonderfully developed play, Rico Clark put the ball where only Giles Barnes could reach it. Barnes out jumped two defenders on the perfectly placed ball and headed it in for the tying goal. Watching the goal on replay and it developed much faster and the pass was harder than I realized. Great team effort on the entire sequence.
For the game winner, the Dynamo struck with their bread and butter...the set piece. On a corner in the 62nd minutes, Adam Moffat put one in front of the goal that Will Bruin appeared to make contact on. The ball didn't go in but it was there for the taking. Creavalle this time made sure he didn't miss. As he went to the ground he poked it in and the Dynamo went up 2-1.
The Whitecaps didn't go quietly into the night though. In the end Hall stood big in goal and made saves. The Dynamo were also beneficiaries of a little luck. Mattock almost knotted up the game but his howling free kick bounced off BOTH posts and the good guys unbeaten home streak remained in tact.
Official highlights:
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