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Houston Snap Winless Streak Against Colorado
Houston Dynamo overcame the Colorado Rapids 1-0 thanks to a looping Brian Ching header.
Apr 19, 2009 7:20:17 PM
The Houston Dynamo was one of the winless teams heading into week five's encounter with the Colorado Rapids. The 12,708 in Robertson Stadium saw that streak come to an end, as a looping Brian Ching header gave Houston a slender 1-0 victory.
Houston named a staring eleven unchanged from the one that drew 0-0 with the New York Red Bulls last week. Colorado replaced Ty Harden and Cory Gibbs in the backline with Kosuke Kimura and Scott Palguta.
First Half
Hosts Houston took control of the match immediately. For the first few minutes after the starting whistle, Colorado had difficulties playing the ball out if its own half. The early exchanges saw a couple of half chances go awry and one brilliant save by Rapids goalkeeper Preston Burpo. Brian Ching launched a pointblank shot which Burpo managed to keep out of the net.
Minutes later, Burpo was at it again, except this time his save was less intentional. From a throw in, Brad Davis hit a stinging half-volley that ricocheted off Burpo's unsuspecting knee before flashing narrowly wide. Such was the pace of the shot that Burpo was busy looking back towards his goal to see where the shot had gone when instead he had mustered a save of sorts.
The breakthrough came 20 minutes into the game. Stuart Holden found Davis on the left, and the winger hit a dangerous cross behind the Rapids defense. Ching eluded Palguta who was marking him to head it high and into the far post over a hapless Burpo.
Nearly ten minutes later is when Colorado had its first chance of note. Captain Pablo Mastroeni played through to Colin Clark, who burst down the left flank and snapped a cross into the area. Conor Casey guided the ball towards goal, but Pat Onstad was up to the task in the Dynamo net.
Second Half
The second stanza began similarly to the first, with Houston quicker out of the gate. A couple minutes in, the team wasted a series of chances to double its lead. A quick counter saw Ching play striking partner Kei Kamara through on the right flank. Kamara's cross eluded everyone in the box, but was smashed back into contention by Davis at the far side. The rebound fell to Brian Mullan in the area, but his shot sailed high and wide.
Midway through the half saw a bit of controversy. Mastroeni twirled out of a challenge and passed to Omar Cummings with a slicing through ball. Cummings pushed past one defender and moved in towards goal, but Onstad rushed off his line to smother. The Jamaican tried to pull out of his shot, but ended up kicking the 41-year-old in the head.
With about ten minutes remaining, Colorado really should have been level. Conor Casey collected the ball in the opposition half and wiggled his way into the corner. From there, he took on four Dynamo defenders to burst clear into the box. There, a trailing leg by Geoff Cameron brought him down, and the referee awarded a penalty. Casey himself stepped up to take it, looking to increase his MLS-leading goal tally. However, Onstad dove correctly and punched the ball up into his crossbar, and leaped up to fend off a snap header on the rebound by substitute Terry Cooke. The goalkeeper was showing no ill-affects from his earlier clash, and kept the slender lead intact with some phenomenal play.
Cooke would snap a double shot a few agonizing inches wide of the post to close out the game, but Colorado couldn't find an equalizer. The Rapids' three game unbeaten streak came to an end to coincide with Houston's first victory of the season.
Zac Lee Rigg, Goal.com
Houston named a staring eleven unchanged from the one that drew 0-0 with the New York Red Bulls last week. Colorado replaced Ty Harden and Cory Gibbs in the backline with Kosuke Kimura and Scott Palguta.
First Half
Hosts Houston took control of the match immediately. For the first few minutes after the starting whistle, Colorado had difficulties playing the ball out if its own half. The early exchanges saw a couple of half chances go awry and one brilliant save by Rapids goalkeeper Preston Burpo. Brian Ching launched a pointblank shot which Burpo managed to keep out of the net.
Minutes later, Burpo was at it again, except this time his save was less intentional. From a throw in, Brad Davis hit a stinging half-volley that ricocheted off Burpo's unsuspecting knee before flashing narrowly wide. Such was the pace of the shot that Burpo was busy looking back towards his goal to see where the shot had gone when instead he had mustered a save of sorts.
The breakthrough came 20 minutes into the game. Stuart Holden found Davis on the left, and the winger hit a dangerous cross behind the Rapids defense. Ching eluded Palguta who was marking him to head it high and into the far post over a hapless Burpo.
Nearly ten minutes later is when Colorado had its first chance of note. Captain Pablo Mastroeni played through to Colin Clark, who burst down the left flank and snapped a cross into the area. Conor Casey guided the ball towards goal, but Pat Onstad was up to the task in the Dynamo net.
Second Half
The second stanza began similarly to the first, with Houston quicker out of the gate. A couple minutes in, the team wasted a series of chances to double its lead. A quick counter saw Ching play striking partner Kei Kamara through on the right flank. Kamara's cross eluded everyone in the box, but was smashed back into contention by Davis at the far side. The rebound fell to Brian Mullan in the area, but his shot sailed high and wide.
Midway through the half saw a bit of controversy. Mastroeni twirled out of a challenge and passed to Omar Cummings with a slicing through ball. Cummings pushed past one defender and moved in towards goal, but Onstad rushed off his line to smother. The Jamaican tried to pull out of his shot, but ended up kicking the 41-year-old in the head.
With about ten minutes remaining, Colorado really should have been level. Conor Casey collected the ball in the opposition half and wiggled his way into the corner. From there, he took on four Dynamo defenders to burst clear into the box. There, a trailing leg by Geoff Cameron brought him down, and the referee awarded a penalty. Casey himself stepped up to take it, looking to increase his MLS-leading goal tally. However, Onstad dove correctly and punched the ball up into his crossbar, and leaped up to fend off a snap header on the rebound by substitute Terry Cooke. The goalkeeper was showing no ill-affects from his earlier clash, and kept the slender lead intact with some phenomenal play.
Cooke would snap a double shot a few agonizing inches wide of the post to close out the game, but Colorado couldn't find an equalizer. The Rapids' three game unbeaten streak came to an end to coincide with Houston's first victory of the season.
Zac Lee Rigg, Goal.com
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