Played
July 31, 2010 8:30 PM EDT
Robertson Stadium, Houston, Texas
July 31, 2010 8:30 PM EDT
Robertson Stadium, Houston, Texas
Top of the Match
Juan Pablo Angel
New York Red Bulls
New York Red Bulls
Juan Pablo Angel
New York Red Bulls
New York Red Bulls
Flop of the Match
Carlos Mendes
New York Red Bulls
New York Red Bulls
Lovel Palmer
Houston Dynamo
Houston Dynamo
Goal.com Rating 
Fans' Rating Houston Dynamo 2-2 New York Red Bulls: Thierry Henry's Debut Ends Tied
By Kevin McCauley
A wild game on a hot summer night in Houston between the New York Red Bulls and the Houston Dynamo provided plenty of talking points.
A crowd of 24,750, the largest of the season for Houston, tuned up for the debut of Thierry Henry and to watch the Dynamo try to end a seven game winless streak. The most memorable moment of the match will be Brian Mullan’s 90th minute equalizer, but questionable officiating and poor finishing will leave fans on both sides wondering what may have been.
First Half
After a slow start, the match picked up in the eighth minute off of a Houston corner kick. Lovel Palmer had a shot from just inside the 18 yard box saved by Bouna Condoul. The rebound fell to Adrian Serioux, who missed wide on a chance he should have done much better with.
A mere minute and a half later, in the 10th minute of play, Thierry Henry sent a cross into the box from the left hand flank and Juan Pablo Angel calmly tapped it home to make it 1-0 to New York. Henry’s cross was dangerous, but Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall looked confused on the play and midfielder Brad Davis, who was shadowing Angel at the back post, botched his opportunity to make a clearance.
The next serious piece of action occurred in the 21st minute. After making a questionable tackle on New York left back Roy Miller to win the ball, Houston winger Danny Cruz had acres of space in front of him on the right side of the field and took advantage, surging down the pitch and delivering a low cross to the top of the left side of the box. Davis took a first-time shot off the cross which was blocked, but Joseph Ngwenya collected the rebound after the scramble and went down after central defender Pedro Mendes made contact with him in the box.
Referee Paul Ward believed the contact was enough to warrant a penalty kick. After a long delay for treatment by the physio to Miller, Davis stepped up and calmly converted the penalty kick to make it a 1-1 game in the 24th minute.
The next major chance of the game came in the 29th minute when Macoumba Kandji crossed the ball from the left hand side of the field to Henry in the center of the box. Henry put the ball right into the chest of Hall when it was probably just as easy to hit the target, but the chance didn’t end there. Angel collected the rebound and passed it back to Henry who missed an even easier chance wide to Hall’s left.
In the 38th minute, Brian Ching drew a silly but unquestionably correct penalty kick after being fouled in the box by Tim Ream. Davis stepped up to take it again, and afraid of taking a penalty kick the same way twice in one game, he went for power. Unfortunately for Houston, Davis’s penalty screamed over the bar, practically into orbit.
On the 42nd minute, Angel played a brilliant through-ball to Henry. The Frenchman beat his man and got into a one-on-one situation with Hall before inexplicably screwing his shot wide to Hall’s left. It was, without a doubt, an absolute sitter.
Just two minutes later, the big controversy of the match occurred. Houston midfielder Lovel Palmer entered a seemingly 50/50 challenge with Pedro Mendes and didn’t appear to make contact, but the official thought that he saw what he judged to be a red card offense. After multiple replays, it was obvious that Palmer did not make contact with Mendes, nor did he make any kind of dangerous play, and the red card was unwarranted.
Before the end of the half, Henry had one more chance on goal in the 46th minute, but his shot was saved by Hall.
Second Half
After a first half loaded with action, the second half was considerably tamer, at least until the very end of the game. Dane Richards replaced Seth Stammler for the Red Bulls at halftime, an offensive move made to take advantage of the one-man advantage. Henry and Angel combined for a chance in the 48th minute, but Houston’s defense held up well and cleared the ball away.
The next 15 minutes were rather uneventful, with both teams creating a couple of half chances. Cruz had a shot from about 20 yards go wide in the 52nd minute, Henry had a soft shot saved by Hall in the 54th minute, and Red Bulls midfielder Tony Tchani had a long shot go wide in the 56th minute.
In the 58th minute, New York finally took the lead that looked likely since the sending off of Palmer. Angel made a brilliant diagonal run across the top of the 18 yard box from Hall’s right to left and Henry spotted him. Henry then played a brilliant through-ball to Angel, who produced a quality finish from about 12 yards out, straight over the head of Hall.
For the next 30-plus minutes, the pace of the game slowed down with neither team creating much. With a lead and a man advantage, New York were content to sit back, control possession, and run out the clock. Then, lightning struck.
In the 90th minute, Brian Ching dropped back into the midfield to receive a ball and sprayed it wide right to Andrew Hainault. The Houston fullback put in a cross to the far post and it was headed into the back of the net by Brian Mullan, who had come on as a substitute for Ngwenya in the 77th minute. He was being marked by Mendes, who looked surprised to be beaten to a header by the 5'8 Mullan.
The equalizer came as a crushing blow to New York, which had dominated both possession and chances in addition to playing up a man for more than 45 minutes. Houston’s winless streak extends to eight games with this draw, but they are likely to be satisfied with only getting a point from this match.
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
A crowd of 24,750, the largest of the season for Houston, tuned up for the debut of Thierry Henry and to watch the Dynamo try to end a seven game winless streak. The most memorable moment of the match will be Brian Mullan’s 90th minute equalizer, but questionable officiating and poor finishing will leave fans on both sides wondering what may have been.
First Half
After a slow start, the match picked up in the eighth minute off of a Houston corner kick. Lovel Palmer had a shot from just inside the 18 yard box saved by Bouna Condoul. The rebound fell to Adrian Serioux, who missed wide on a chance he should have done much better with.
A mere minute and a half later, in the 10th minute of play, Thierry Henry sent a cross into the box from the left hand flank and Juan Pablo Angel calmly tapped it home to make it 1-0 to New York. Henry’s cross was dangerous, but Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall looked confused on the play and midfielder Brad Davis, who was shadowing Angel at the back post, botched his opportunity to make a clearance.
The next serious piece of action occurred in the 21st minute. After making a questionable tackle on New York left back Roy Miller to win the ball, Houston winger Danny Cruz had acres of space in front of him on the right side of the field and took advantage, surging down the pitch and delivering a low cross to the top of the left side of the box. Davis took a first-time shot off the cross which was blocked, but Joseph Ngwenya collected the rebound after the scramble and went down after central defender Pedro Mendes made contact with him in the box.
Referee Paul Ward believed the contact was enough to warrant a penalty kick. After a long delay for treatment by the physio to Miller, Davis stepped up and calmly converted the penalty kick to make it a 1-1 game in the 24th minute.
The next major chance of the game came in the 29th minute when Macoumba Kandji crossed the ball from the left hand side of the field to Henry in the center of the box. Henry put the ball right into the chest of Hall when it was probably just as easy to hit the target, but the chance didn’t end there. Angel collected the rebound and passed it back to Henry who missed an even easier chance wide to Hall’s left.
In the 38th minute, Brian Ching drew a silly but unquestionably correct penalty kick after being fouled in the box by Tim Ream. Davis stepped up to take it again, and afraid of taking a penalty kick the same way twice in one game, he went for power. Unfortunately for Houston, Davis’s penalty screamed over the bar, practically into orbit.
On the 42nd minute, Angel played a brilliant through-ball to Henry. The Frenchman beat his man and got into a one-on-one situation with Hall before inexplicably screwing his shot wide to Hall’s left. It was, without a doubt, an absolute sitter.
Just two minutes later, the big controversy of the match occurred. Houston midfielder Lovel Palmer entered a seemingly 50/50 challenge with Pedro Mendes and didn’t appear to make contact, but the official thought that he saw what he judged to be a red card offense. After multiple replays, it was obvious that Palmer did not make contact with Mendes, nor did he make any kind of dangerous play, and the red card was unwarranted.
Before the end of the half, Henry had one more chance on goal in the 46th minute, but his shot was saved by Hall.
Second Half
After a first half loaded with action, the second half was considerably tamer, at least until the very end of the game. Dane Richards replaced Seth Stammler for the Red Bulls at halftime, an offensive move made to take advantage of the one-man advantage. Henry and Angel combined for a chance in the 48th minute, but Houston’s defense held up well and cleared the ball away.
The next 15 minutes were rather uneventful, with both teams creating a couple of half chances. Cruz had a shot from about 20 yards go wide in the 52nd minute, Henry had a soft shot saved by Hall in the 54th minute, and Red Bulls midfielder Tony Tchani had a long shot go wide in the 56th minute.
In the 58th minute, New York finally took the lead that looked likely since the sending off of Palmer. Angel made a brilliant diagonal run across the top of the 18 yard box from Hall’s right to left and Henry spotted him. Henry then played a brilliant through-ball to Angel, who produced a quality finish from about 12 yards out, straight over the head of Hall.
For the next 30-plus minutes, the pace of the game slowed down with neither team creating much. With a lead and a man advantage, New York were content to sit back, control possession, and run out the clock. Then, lightning struck.
In the 90th minute, Brian Ching dropped back into the midfield to receive a ball and sprayed it wide right to Andrew Hainault. The Houston fullback put in a cross to the far post and it was headed into the back of the net by Brian Mullan, who had come on as a substitute for Ngwenya in the 77th minute. He was being marked by Mendes, who looked surprised to be beaten to a header by the 5'8 Mullan.
The equalizer came as a crushing blow to New York, which had dominated both possession and chances in addition to playing up a man for more than 45 minutes. Houston’s winless streak extends to eight games with this draw, but they are likely to be satisfied with only getting a point from this match.
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
Goal
Own Goal
Penalty
Penalty Missed
Yellow Card
Assist
Penalty Save
Penalty Shootout Goal
Penalty Shootout Miss
Yellow Card / Red Card
Red Card
Substitution IN
Substitution OUT
Injury
Goal.com Rating
Goal.com Man of the Match
Goal.com Flop of the Match
Top & Flop Global Ranking
Fans' Man of the Match
Fans' Flop of the Match
Results
Times In EST
Live
Final
scheduled
Suspended
Cancelled
Postponed
Match News
Top Scorers
| Player | Goals | Penalties | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Marco Di Vaio Striker Montreal Impact |
10 | 0 |
|
Jack McInerney Striker Philadelphia Union |
10 | 0 |
|
Mike Magee Midfielder LA Galaxy |
9 | 2 |
|
Camilo Da Silva Sanvezzo Striker Vancouver |
8 | 2 |
|
Claudio Bieler Striker Sporting KC |
7 | 2 |
