SB Nation Houston - Dynamo v. Toronto FC: Both Teams See Red In 1-1 Drawhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46691/houston-fave.png2010-07-01T22:44:42-05:00http://houston.sbnation.com/rss/stream/13118692010-07-01T22:44:42-05:002010-07-01T22:44:42-05:00Final: Both Houston and Toronto See Red In 1-1 Draw
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/31pUoLi4JWTyFcdN7Qz5cKCdRMg=/0x26:400x293/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47828119/large_houston.sbnation.com.minimal.0.png" />
</figure>
<p>For the first time all season the Dynamo earned back to back positive results following a 1-1 draw on the road against Toronto FC. The Dynamo traveled to Toronto for ESPN’s Thursday night <span class="caps">MLS</span> Game of the Week.</p>
<p>Both teams managed to score in the second half with headers off of corner kicks. The game finished with the Dynamo fielding ten men to Toronto’s nine following a pair of fights in the last 45 minutes of the game. Toronto received seven cards in the game to Houston’s one.</p>
<p>Toronto FC fielded their standard lineup while Houston was forced to contend with another set of fresh injuries. Forward Luis Angel Landin did not travel with the team after picking up a knee injury against Miami FC in Tuesday night’s U.S. Open Cup and midfielder Brad Davis, Houston’s best play so far this season, did not travel after picking up a left hip flexor injury during team practice on Wednesday.</p>
<p>The injuries forced Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear to move some players around and, dealing with player fatigue from three matches in six days, meant the coach had to be a bit creative with his team selection. Coach Kinnear fielded his standard 4-4-2 but decided to start Josephy Ngwenya in the central attacking midfield role that Brad Davis has lately occupied. Danny Cruz and Corey Ashe started on the outside of the midfield while the two Brians, Ching and Mullan, started up top in attack. In defense, Coach Kinnear started Chabala, Boswell, Cochrane, and Hainault, opting to rest Eddie Robinson’s tired legs.</p>
<p>For Brian Mullan, typically an outside midfielder for Houston, playing up top was obviously not a comfortable spot for him. A number of times he would possess the ball either inside the box or on the edge of the area and would pass the rather than take a shot on goal.</p>
<p>Mullan’s reluctance tp shoot, along with the Dynamo having trouble sustaining build-up play and Dwayne De Rosario’s inability to do it all by himself, led to a scoreless first half. Both teams had chances and both goalkeepers came up big, but neither team was able to really break down the other. Toronto FC, however, had the best chance at the end of the half when a free kick was curled in from just wide of the 18-yard box and fell to two Toronto players who could not put a foot on it. Joseph Ngwenya was able to clear the ball out about 30 yards to Julian De Guzman who ripped a shot only to be stopped by a diving Pat Onstad. The goalkeeper was unable to hold onto the shot but Toronto was unable to capitalize on the ricochet.</p>
<p>While not really doing anything overly significant in the first half, Houston was able to stay in the game and maintain the draw leading into the locker room.</p>
<p>Both teams came out of the second half ready to attack and ready to take control of the match. The second half was wide open until defender Bobby Boswell took an unexpected and long run through the middle of the pitch before sliding a pass to Mullan as the forward ran into the box. Mullan was able to get past the defender and hit a one-timer into the back of the net only to be called offside by the linesman. Replays clearly showed that Mullan was onside but that Brian Ching was maybe a foot offside. Ching was not involved in the play and neither player should have been called for being offside. It was a bad call from the linesman but it showed Houston they could score if they attacked Toronto’s defense.</p>
<p>The next attack in the game occured in the 61st minute when Joseph Ngwenya and Nana Attakora collided after the whistle blew. Attakora put his hands on Ngwenya’s neck and the forward retaliated by trying to hit Attakora’s hands away. A shoving match ensued that included most field players from both teams and a few of Toronto’s substitutes who were warming up nearby. Ngwenya and Toronto’s Julian De Guzman, a quick contributor to the scuffle, were both shown straight red cards and ejected from the game.</p>
<p>Houston was the first team to capitalize on the increased space in the field and used the energy from the scuffle to attack Toronto’s back line. Danny Cruz earned a series of corners and the Dynamo were finally able to open up the scoring in the 73rd minute when Cruz took a corner from the left side of goal that met Brian Ching who glanced a header into the back of the net.</p>
<p>It was Ching’s third goal since returning from the national team on May 29 and Cruz’ second assist in six starts this season.</p>
<p>Toronto leveled the score eleven minutes later after Dan Gargan headed a ball into the edge of the goal off of a Fuad Ibrahim corner kick. Coach Kinnear will certainly not be happy with his team conceding another late goal and with Pat Onstad again being out of position.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for Onstad, he follows up stupendous saves like his goal-saving tip prior to the game-tying goal with sloppy mental play. Mental mistakes and poor positioning have been reoccuring themes this season for the veteran keeper.</p>
<p>The game looked to end all square until Amadou Sanyang was ejected deep into stoppage time for a second yellow after fighting with Ryan Cochrane.</p>
<p>The Dynamo should be happy with taking points home after a tough game against Toronto, but one has to wonder how happy Coach Kinnear will be with his team and the continued lapses in judgement they are showing. If they could simply focus for 90 minutes and play consistently strong, the Dynamo could return back to the winning ways they were once accustomed to.</p>
<p><strong>Key Battle Of The Night</strong><br>
<em>Dwayne De Rosario v. Pat Onstad </em><br>
The best matchup of the night and the source of most of the games excitement resulted from the former Dynamo and Candian international teammates. De Rosario was easily Toronto FC’s best player and he forced Pat Onstad to make a few impactful saves. Dynamo fans have come to expect Onstad to make big saves and the aging keeper came up big a few times tonight. Ultimately though, Onstad was beaten by one of De Rosario’s teammates, but these two men battled hard with each other all game long.</p>
<p><strong><span class="caps">SCORING</span> <span class="caps">SUMMARY</span></strong><br>
<em>Houston</em> — Brian Ching 3 (Danny Cruz 2) 73<br>
<em>Toronto</em> — Dan Gargan 1 (Fuad Ibrahim 1) 84</p>
<p><em>Houston Dynamo</em> — Pat Onstad, Andrew Hainault, Ryan Cochrane, Bobby Boswell, Mike Chabala, Danny Cruz, Lovel Palmer, Joseph Ngwenya, Corey Ashe (Eddie Robinson 76), Brian Mullan (Dominic Oduro 65), Brian Ching (Cam Weaver 90).</p>
<p><em>Toronto FC</em> — Stefan Frei, Dan Gargan, Nana Attakora, Adrian Cann, Nick Garcia (Fuad Ibrahim 80), Jacob Peterson (O’Brian White 46), Amadou Sanyang, Julian De Guzman, Nick LaBrocca (Gabe Gala 72), Dwayne De Rosario, Chad Barrett.</p>
<p><strong>WHAT’S <span class="caps">NEXT</span></strong><br>
<em>Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (Round 4</em>)<br>
Tuesday, July 6, vs. Chivas <span class="caps">USA</span> at Robertson Stadium <br>
The Dynamo will host Chivas <span class="caps">USA</span> on Tuesday, July 6, in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals. It will be the third of at least four meetings between the teams this season, with Houston taking both regular season meetings by shutout earlier this year. The Dynamo are 2-0 all-time in Open Cup quarterfinals, having reached the semifinals in 2006 and 2009.</p>
<p><em>Major League Soccer</em> <br>
Saturday, July 10, 7:30 p.m. vs. Columbus Crew, Robertson Stadium</p>
https://houston.sbnation.com/2010/7/1/1548671/final-both-houston-and-toronto-see-red-in-drawJordan Wise2010-07-01T15:18:45-05:002010-07-01T15:18:45-05:00Dynamo Look For Consistency Against Toronto FC
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/31pUoLi4JWTyFcdN7Qz5cKCdRMg=/0x26:400x293/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47828119/large_houston.sbnation.com.minimal.0.png" />
</figure>
<p>With less than 48 hours since they last played, the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/mls/teams/HOU" class="sbn-auto-link">Houston Dynamo</a> (5-6-1, 16 points; 6th place in Western Conference) travel to BMO field tonight to face <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/mls/teams/TOR" class="sbn-auto-link">Toronto FC</a> (5-4-3, 18 points; 3rd place in Eastern Conference) in ESPN's MLS Game of the Week. Houston last played on Tuesday night in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup when they beat Miami FC 1-0. The Open Cup game came just 3 days after the Dynamo drew against the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/mls/teams/COR" class="sbn-auto-link">Colorado Rapids</a> on Saturday night in Houston.</p>
<p>The Dynamo's performance against Colorado proved that Major League Soccer's two-week long break for the World Cup did not give Houston enough time to fix problems with the defense. <span>Eddie Robinson</span> made a giveaway the proved to be costly when <span>Conor Casey</span> slotted home Colorado's first goal in the last minute of the opening half. While Robinson took responsibility for his error, he was quick to add that he wanted erase the night's showing with a solid defensive effort in the Open Cup. Robinson looked improved against Miami FC but played all 90 minutes and may not be fully recovered for tonight's game.</p>
<p>Toronto FC will want to attack Houston's shaky back line and will look to use former-Dynamo <span>Dwayne De Rosario</span>'s speed for counter-attacks and play through the middle of the pitch. Toronto have been very good at home and have not been beaten when hosting opposition (5-0-2). The Dynamo have conceded 14 goals in their last six MLS games, something the team will have to correct if they want to take any points home from this trip. Mental mistakes have hampered the Houston defense and Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear will be hoping that his back line can muster a solid performance tonight to build some momentum ahead of the second half of the season.</p>
<p>While the compressed schedule may mean a few Dynamo players have tired legs, Coach Kinnear smartly decided to use youth against Miami FC in the Open Cup. Because of this, Houston will likely start with as aggressive a line-up as possible and will keep players with heavy legs on the bench for as long as possible. Despite playing in both the Colorado and Miami games, <span>Danny Cruz</span> could be called upon again to carry the outside of Houston's attack as he currently is one of the team's few in-form players.</p>
<p>One player that is certainly set to miss tonight's game is forward <span>Luis Angel Landin</span>. The former Mexican international appeared to take a knock to the knee on Tuesday night and was quickly substituted following the injury. Incidentally, Landin injured his knee while playing in the center of midfield, a move Coach Kinnear seems to have made in order to make the Houston attack more aggressive. <span>Brad Davis</span> will return to the central attacking midfield role in Landin's absence with the rest of the midfield composed of <span>Lovel Palmer</span>, Danny Cruz, and most likely <span>Brian Mullan</span>, unless Coach Kinnear wants to be very aggressive and start <span>Corey Ashe</span> opposite Cruz.</p>
<p>The top of Houston's attack should also be aggressive with Joseph Ngwenya and <span>Brian Ching</span> starting up top. <span>Cam Weaver</span> and <span>Dominic Oduro</span> both played significant minutes in Tuesday night's game and will likely be called upon late in the game as substitutes. Ngwenya will be looking to double his season goal scoring tally after opening his account against Colorado last week. In his first game back with the team, his movement was good and showed flashes of the player he was for Houston a few years ago. Ching will have to keep his anger in check tonight after he should have been sent off against Colorado for a reckless challenge on <span>Pablo Mastroeni</span>.</p>
<p>The only real questions for Houston's lineup are who will start at the back in defense. <span>Ryan Cochrane</span> only played 45 minutes in the Open Cup and could get the start ahead of Eddie Robinson who played all 180 minutes of the last two games. If Cochrane starts, he should be joined by regular defenders <span>Bobby Boswell</span>, <span>Andrew Hainault</span>, and <span>Mike Chabala</span>.</p>
<p>The Dynamo are 0-1-2 in the three previous trips to BMO field, including 1-1 ties in both 2008 and 2009. Tonight's game in Houston is the third of 10 games in 36 days for the club. During that stretch, the Dynamo are scheduled to play five league game, three SuperLiga games, and two Open Cup games.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>Predicted Dynamo Line-Up</b><br>=====Joseph Ngwenya============Brian Ching=======<br>===================Brad Davis====================<br>==========Brian Mullan=========Danny Cruz=========<br>==================Lovel Palmer===================<br>Mike Chabala=Ryan Cochrane=Bobby Boswell=Andrew Hainault<br>=================<span>Pat Onstad</span>======================</p>
<p>Bench: <span>Adrian Serioux</span>, Eddie Robinson, <span>Tally Hall</span> (GK), Corey Ashe, Cam Weaver, Dominic Oduro, <span>Craig Waibel</span></p>
<p>Check back here during the game for more updates and highlights from the MLS Game of the Week.</p>
https://houston.sbnation.com/2010/7/1/2317326/dynamo-look-for-consistency-against-toronto-fcJordan Wise