Houston Dynamo Dismiss SJ Earthquakes With 3-1 Win

For the second time this season, rivals Houston Dynamo (3-2-3) and San Jose Earthquakes (1-5-2) met up to fight it out on the pitch. The first match, back in March, ended with San Jose emerging victorious with a 3-2 win. This time around, the Dynamo were unstoppable, scoring three times to claim all the points and continue their climb up the Western Conference standings with a 3-1 result. San Jose’s loss extends their losing streak to five games, as they continue to languish miserably at the bottom of the table.

Coming into the match, the Houston Dynamo were unbeaten in their last five matches, with their latest being a 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls. This week, Coach Dominic Kinnear dropped Mike Chabala and Ade Akinbiyi to the bench and opted to give starts to Brian Ching and Craig Waibel.

At the other end of the pitch, the San Jose Earthquakes were coming off a bye week, with their last match being a 1-4 trouncing by New York on May 8^th. San Jose have not won a match since their March 28^th game against Houston. Coach Frank Yallop is still tinkering, trying to find his strongest lineup. He got a boost defensively this week, with Jason Hernandez, 2008 Earthquakes’ Defensive Player of the Year, finally back from a calf injury to make his first start of the season.

First Half

The Dynamo looked dangerous immediately and wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard. In the fourth minute, midfielder Brad Davis delivered a dipping free kick into the front of San Jose’s goal. Forward Brian Ching broke free from his mark and got in behind the defense at the far post, where he connected with the ball and headed it into the right corner of the net. It was Ching’s fourth goal of the season.

Houston doubled their lead just a short time later from another set piece. In the 12^th minute, Davis whipped a corner kick into the box, where forward Kei Kamara easily slipped between Earthquakes’ defenders and sent a powerful header into the net. Goalkeeper Joe Cannon could do nothing. The San Jose defense looked very disorganized, as players collided with each other in failed attempts to keep tabs on the Dynamo attackers.

Two minutes later, San Jose had a half-chance when forward Cam Weaver took advantage of a lapse in concentration by defender Geoff Cameron. Weaver snuck around him and raced toward goal with the ball, but goalkeeper Pat Onstad did well to come out and clear the ball to safety.

Houston came close on two other occasions, with Brian Ching and strike partner Kei Kamara showing a good understanding and setting each other up in front of goal. Ching’s shot in the 24^th minute went wide right, though, while Kamara fired one in low minutes later that Cannon had to get down to save.

Just after the half hour mark, San Jose’s Ryan Johnson, playing outside midfield, showed his worth at both ends of the pitch. Houston’s Davis again sent in a dangerous corner kick, which Johnson cleared off the line with an overhead bicycle kick. At the other end, Johnson passed the ball to teammate Arturo Alvarez, who eventually fired a powerful shot on goal that Onstad just barely touched over. It was the best chance of the night so far for the Earthquakes.

The half ended with Houston up 2-0, and seemingly hungry for more goals. San Jose was struggling to organize their defense and had yet to mount a sustained attack.

In a half-time television interview, Earthquakes’ defender Jason Hernandez said, “Unfortunately, they caught us flat-footed on two set plays, and we know that one of their strong suits is their free kicks, and their ability to get open in the box, so it’s just going to take a few of us to tighten up a little bit and really try to put them on the back foot come the second half.”

At the start of the second half, San Jose coach Yallop made one change, bringing on forward Quincy Amarikwa in place of Pablo Campos, presumably to liven their attack.

Things soon went from bad to worse for the Earthquakes, as the Dynamo again breached San Jose’s defense during a set piece. In the 50^th minute, Davis sent a corner kick flying into the box. Cannon came way off his line in an attempt to punch it clear, but didn’t get there as he appeared to be obstructed by his own players. Instead, a Houston player headed it back toward goal. Dynamo defender Craig Waibel got to the ball first, and poached a goal from just a few feet out. It was his first career goal since 2006.

The Earthquakes did manage to get one back a few minutes later. In the 53^rd minute, defender Chris Leitch sent a free kick high into the top left corner of the Dynamo box. Weaver out-jumped everyone to get to the ball, and headed across goal to the far post. Johnson got over defender Bobby Boswell to head into the net. Onstad was in the right place, but couldn’t react quick enough to save the goal.

The rest of the match, San Jose demonstrated a renewed intensity to match Houston’s attacking pressure. Both sides went close, with Johnson even heading one into the net that was disallowed, as he was just offside. At the other end, Davis took a powerful shot that forced a good save from Cannon. Neither side managed to finish their chances.

Thus, the match ended with home side Dynamo winning 3-1.

Next Saturday the Houston Dynamo stay at home again and face Toronto FC (4-3-4), who beat New England today 3-1. This will be the first time Toronto and Houston meet this season.

San Jose’s next game will be Wednesday on the road against the Columbus Crew (1-2-6), who sit on the bottom of the Eastern Conference table. Both teams will be looking for that elusive win in the hopes of turning around their respective seasons.

Jennifer Dawson, Goal.com