GAME NIGHT:
DYNAMO 2, NEW YORK 2
In front of a large crowd of more than 25,000 at Robertson Stadium, the Houston Dynamo were stunned in the first and last minutes of Saturday night’s game against the New York Red Bulls in a 2-2 tie. New York, which entered the day in first place in the Eastern Conference, took the lead less than one minute into the match and netted a game-tying goal in the first minute of stoppage time.
The result is the third straight tie between the Dynamo and Red Bulls, including a match earlier this season, and leaves Houston in third place behind Philadelphia and New York pending the results of tonight’s Columbus and New England matches.
The crowd of 25,314 was the 10th largest to see a Dynamo game at Robertson Stadium, surpassing the 24,750 that saw Houston and New York play to a 2-2 tie on July 31, 2010. It was the fifth largest regular-season crowd to see a Dynamo game at Robertson.
The match was the first of three games in eight days for Houston, which plays at the LA Galaxy on Wednesday night and at home against FC Dallas next Saturday.
New York opened the scoring less than 40 seconds into Saturday’s match when New York midfielder Dane Richards rifled a right-footed shot from 30 yards inside the left post. Richards had also scored against the Dynamo in the teams’ April 2 match.
The Dynamo responded quickly, as rookie forward Will Bruin was taken down in the penalty area, and midfielder Brad Davis stepped up to fire in his first goal of the season on the penalty kick. For Davis, the goal was his 20th career goal for the Dynamo in all competitions.
After a back-and-forth game that included numerous scoring chances generated from set pieces, Houston took the lead in the 82nd minute when a Brad Davis corner kick found Geoff Cameron, but his header was saved by New York goalkeeper Greg Sutton. Dynamo forward Koke, a second-half substitute, reacted first to convert the rebound for his first goal in MLS.
New York tied the game in the 91st minute when Joel Lindpere delivered a corner kick from the right, and substitute Mehdi Ballouchy powered in a close-range header to tie the score.
Houston midfielder Brad Davis made his 136th career regular season appearance for the Dynamo, tying former Houston players Brian Mullan and Pat Onstad for the club record.
Both Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall and New York’s Greg Sutton finished with four saves on the night.
Houston is now winless in its last four games (0-2-2) and winless in nine games (0-3-6) against New York, dating back to a Dynamo win on May 31, 2008.
For the Dynamo, defender Bobby Boswell played in his 175th MLS game and defender Corey Ashe made his 145th appearance for the club in all competitions.
The Dynamo played without forwards Calen Carr (concussion) and Brian Ching (plantar fasciitis); and midfielder Danny Cruz (knee hyperextension).
Next
Match: Wednesday, May 25, 9:30 p.m. CT, Dynamo at LA Galaxy, The Home Depot
Center, Carson CA
Next
Home Match: Saturday, May 28, 7:30 p.m., Dynamo vs. FC Dallas, Robertson
Stadium
POST-GAME
QUOTES
HOUSTON DYNAMO HEAD COACH DOMINIC KINNEAR
On the game …
“There were good chances on both ends and good
play from both ends. We are a little sour with losing the lead so late after
working so hard to get the lead after going down an early goal. Overall though,
I thought it was one of the better games we played this year, especially on the
ball.”
On positives from the game …
“I really think we played well tonight. I
think we put them under pressure. We were just one defensive corner kick away
from having a real good atmosphere in the locker room. There are a lot of positives to take away
from the game. We got scored on in the first 40 seconds, and there was a lot of
time to play. We could have easily buried our head, but we didn’t. We equalized
well. [Their goal] was not a missed assignment. It was a lack of aggression in
an important area that we always stress. We just let our guard down, and they
were very happy to take advantage.”
HOUSTON DYNAMO GOALKEEPER TALLY HALL
On the game …
“They have a lot of good players. Even their
guys on the bench are good players. We can put it on ourselves, and in the end
we need to manage the game better and keep the ball a little bit better and
fight harder to win all set piece battles. It’s unfortunate we came out of here
with a draw, but as bad as it feels, we have to move on to Wednesday.”
