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San Jose Take 3-2 Thriller Over Houston
Three goals earned three points for the San Jose Earthquakes, as they beat the Houston Dynamo. With a final score of 3-2, neither goalkeeper will have been pleased.
Mar 29, 2009 1:53:33 AM
The San Jose Earthquakes earned their first points of the season by scoring their first goals, defeating the Houston Dynamo 3-2 in Buck Shaw Stadium. It was a thrilling game, with end-to-end action and exposed goalkeepers.
The game opened with San Jose picking up where they left off against the New England Revolution last week, pouring forward in attack but unable to make a breakthrough. Englishman Darren Huckerby dominated the opening minutes, creating and spurning a host of glorious chances.
He set the tone by torturing his marker Richard Mulrooney. In the seventh minute, he sent in a shapely cross which Cam Weaver headed narrowly over the middle of the crossbar. Three minutes later, Huckerby ducked behind Mulrooney with the ball, but Houston 'keeper Pat Onstad pushed his shot away. Later, a Huckerby cross was met by the head of Houston's Ricardo Clark. The ball left Onstad stranded, but hit the wrong side of the netting for Huckerby's liking.
Meanwhile, Brian Mullan, moved up front in the absence of U.S. international Brian Ching, wasted his own share of the chances. First he sliced a Corey Ashe cross wide when alone in the box, and then he couldn't prod the ball home after a low hard cross from Geoff Cameron found him in front of goal.
After half an hour, the game exploded into activity. A ball headed out of the San Jose defense was flicked on by Arturo Alvarez, which Weaver touched on. Ryan Johnson broke through the defense to left-foot into the bottom left hand corner for the game's opener.
Minutes later, San Jose doubled its lead. Alvarez drove at the Houston defensive line from his right wing position towards the center. Atop the box, the powered past Onstad.
The lead wasn't to last long. Just a minute after Alvarez's goal, Houston struck back. Stuart Holden chipped in a ball from the right which Chris Wondolowski headed past Joe Cannon. Two minutes later, Houston was level. Brad Davis wrapped a left-footed curler around the San Jose defense and Cannon to find the top left corner of the goal.
The game hardly knew what had hit it, with four goals in six minutes. There was more drama left in the half, however. Chris Leitch powered what looked like a shot through the Houston defense, and Weaver was the first to react, as he tipped the ball over Onstad. The ball meekly tapped the post before rolling in, for what turned out to be the game winner.
The second half had far less drama. Mullan spurned some more good chances; Johnson scored his second, only for it to be correctly called back for offsides; and Houston coach Dominic Kinnear was ejected in injury time. Other than that, despite Houston's shift in tactics, the game slowed considerably as both sides struggled with energy in the muggy California heat.
Zac Lee Rigg, Goal.com
The game opened with San Jose picking up where they left off against the New England Revolution last week, pouring forward in attack but unable to make a breakthrough. Englishman Darren Huckerby dominated the opening minutes, creating and spurning a host of glorious chances.
He set the tone by torturing his marker Richard Mulrooney. In the seventh minute, he sent in a shapely cross which Cam Weaver headed narrowly over the middle of the crossbar. Three minutes later, Huckerby ducked behind Mulrooney with the ball, but Houston 'keeper Pat Onstad pushed his shot away. Later, a Huckerby cross was met by the head of Houston's Ricardo Clark. The ball left Onstad stranded, but hit the wrong side of the netting for Huckerby's liking.
Meanwhile, Brian Mullan, moved up front in the absence of U.S. international Brian Ching, wasted his own share of the chances. First he sliced a Corey Ashe cross wide when alone in the box, and then he couldn't prod the ball home after a low hard cross from Geoff Cameron found him in front of goal.
After half an hour, the game exploded into activity. A ball headed out of the San Jose defense was flicked on by Arturo Alvarez, which Weaver touched on. Ryan Johnson broke through the defense to left-foot into the bottom left hand corner for the game's opener.
Minutes later, San Jose doubled its lead. Alvarez drove at the Houston defensive line from his right wing position towards the center. Atop the box, the powered past Onstad.
The lead wasn't to last long. Just a minute after Alvarez's goal, Houston struck back. Stuart Holden chipped in a ball from the right which Chris Wondolowski headed past Joe Cannon. Two minutes later, Houston was level. Brad Davis wrapped a left-footed curler around the San Jose defense and Cannon to find the top left corner of the goal.
The game hardly knew what had hit it, with four goals in six minutes. There was more drama left in the half, however. Chris Leitch powered what looked like a shot through the Houston defense, and Weaver was the first to react, as he tipped the ball over Onstad. The ball meekly tapped the post before rolling in, for what turned out to be the game winner.
The second half had far less drama. Mullan spurned some more good chances; Johnson scored his second, only for it to be correctly called back for offsides; and Houston coach Dominic Kinnear was ejected in injury time. Other than that, despite Houston's shift in tactics, the game slowed considerably as both sides struggled with energy in the muggy California heat.
Zac Lee Rigg, Goal.com
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