TUCSON, Ariz.—Leonel Miranda scored his first goal of the preseason, but the Houston Dynamo conceded while down a man to draw 1-1 with the Portland Timbers.
The Dynamo opened scoring in the 47th minute when Ricardo Clark played a pass into space behind the Timbers back line. Both Miranda and Will Bruin chased after the ball, but Bruin deferred to the Argentine to set up a numbers advantage in the attacking third. Miranda looked up to find space between Portland goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey and the near post, and hammered his shot into the gap from the edge of the penalty area.
Playing three 30-minute periods, the teams went through the first half hour with a few half-chances on both sides, but neither seriously threatening to score. Off the opening kick, Fanedno Adi beat Houston goalkeeper Tyler Deric to a pass in the box and chipped a shot towards goal. His effort was thwarted, however, by Kofi Sarkodie leaping to head the shot off the goal line.
Deric made the save of the night 37 minutes in, diving to his left to tip away a close-range shot from Gaston Fernandez. The Dynamo keeper was off his line again to tip away a pass intended for Adi, but the ball fell to Rodney Wallace who couldn’t put his shot in the empty net.
The game turned in the 56th minute, when Dynamo sub Jason Johnson was tackled by Norberto Paparatto. Johnson confronted the Timbers defender following the challenge, and received a red card from referee Edwin Jurisevic to put the Dynamo down to 10 men for the remainder of the match. Paparatto earned a yellow card caution.
Portland tied the match up 13 minutes later, when trialist Omar Cummings latched on to a loose ball in the penalty area and slotted it past substitute keeper Joe Willis. Cummings was with the Dynamo from 2013-14.
With the draw, the Dynamo move to 1-0-1 in the 2015 preseason. They finish their Arizona trip against the Vancouver Whitecaps on at 11 a.m. CT on Tuesday, Feb. 10.
Houston Dynamo vs. Portland Timbers
MLS Preseason — Desert Friendlies
February 7, 2015 – Kino Sports Complex, Tucson, AZ
Attendance: 1,421
Scoring Summary:
Houston: Leonel Miranda 1 (Ricardo Clark 1) 47
Portland: Omar Cummings (unassisted) 69
Houston Dynamo: Tyler Deric (Joe Willis 61); Kofi Sarkodie (Taylor Hunter* 61), Raúl Rodríguez (David Horst 61), Jermaine Taylor (AJ Cochran 61), DaMarcus Beasley (Corey Ashe 61); Leonel Miranda (George Malki* 67), Ricardo Clark (Memo Rodriguez 81), Zach Steinberger (Nathan Sturgis 43), Brad Davis (Chandler Hoffman 61); Giles Barnes (Rob Lovejoy* 35), Will Bruin (Jason Johnson 55; ejected 56)
Portland Timbers: Adam Kwarasey (Andrew Weber 61); Alvas Powell (George Fochive 61), Nat Borchers (Taylor Peay 61), Norberto Paparatto (Danny O’Rourke 61), Jorge Villafana (Jeanderson 61); Darlington Nagbe (Dairon Asprilla 61), Deigo Chara (Jack Jewsbury 61), Ben Zemanski (Nick Besler* 61), Rodney Wallace (Michael Nanchoff 61); Gaston Fernandez (Omar Cummings 61), Fanendo Adi (Maxmilliano Urruti 61)
*Trialist
Misconduct Summary:
HOU: Brad Davis (caution) 20
HOU: Jason Johnson (ejection) 56
PTL: Norberto Paparatto (caution) 56
PTL: Dairon Asprilla (caution) 63
HOU: AJ Cochran (caution) 67
Referee: Edwin Jurisevic
