For what seems like the millionth time this season, the Houston Dynamo opened the game by conceding an early goal.
Following what looked like some better play and confidence from Houston, Brazilian midfielder Geovanni, who is starting his first MLS game tonight, went on a blinding run down the right side of the pitch before setting up Khari Stephenson who netted the game’s opening goal.
While a stat is not known, the Dynamo have found themselves in the poor habit of letting teams pick up early leads in matches, forcing them to work to chase games.
The pace of the game significantly slowed following the goal, but Houston looked like a team that was clearly frazzled.
The game picked back up in the thirty-second minute when Cam Weaver headed a corner kick just wide of the bar for Houston’s best chance of the half.
The Dynamo had a number of attacks throughout the half that just could not quite fully develop, an unfortunate result of the team’s patchwork line-up. The good news is that Cam Weaver and Dominic Oduro seemed to work well together with Geoff Cameron providing service through the middle of the pitch.
Things got chippy a few minutes before the half when Jason Hernandez appeared to hit Oduro in the throat stopping the forward’s run. Hernandez received a yellow card for the offense, but only once referee Jorge Gonzalez conferred with the 4th Official, Jair Marrufo.
Calls from Gonzalez throughout the first half were inconsistent at best and, if not careful, could allow the game to get out of hand.
Brad Davis changed the feel of the entire first when he scored a goal just before half time with a fantastic header to the back post of the goal. The goal was created after Davis shrugged off Earthquakes defender Tim Ward and ripped a shot at Jon Busch. The shot was parried back to Mullan who chipped the cross that Davis scored off of.
While the goal should give Houston some momentum going into the half, the team needs to do better with controlling the match in the second half. If the Dynamo want to win this game they are going to have to clean up their runs and take better chances at goal. Also, the defense needs to hold the line a bit better and be careful of their position on the pitch. A number of times the back line was too far up the field allowing San Jose plenty of room to attack.
Expect to see Kinnear get after his players at half time and have them come out of the locker room aggressive and eager to score another goal.