DC Falls in High-Scoring Thriller Vs Houston

Spurred on by the return of talisman Brian Ching to the squad, the Houston Dynamo defeated D.C. United 4-3 Saturday night in Houston, thanks to a flurry of goals in just three minutes to close out the first half.

Both Houston and D.C. welcomed back starters to their squad from the Gold Cup, as Stuart Holden and Brian Ching finally joined back up with Houston, and Santino Quaranta with D.C. United. All three were part of the the USA squad that made it to the finals of the Gold Cup, played last Sunday.

United came into the game having played twice in the past week, having drawn with San Jose last Saturday in league play, and drawing with LA Firpo of El Salvador in Champions' League play on Tuesday. Houston's last match was a 1-0 loss to the New England Revolution last Saturday.

First Half

Under the swealtering heat at Robertson Stadium, both Houston and D.C. United got off to a slow start to the match, as both teams looked to slowly get adjusted to the speed of the game.

Houston had a chance early on, with a corner kick in the 3rd minute. Stuart Holden took the honors, and sent in an inviting cross, which found defender Andrew Hainault at the back post, unmarked. Hainault failed to get his header on target however, and United dodged an early bullet.

United's first chance came several minutes later, from a corner as well. Jaime Moreno played in a tricky corner, which found Christian Gomez at the top of the box. Gomez got a testing shot off, but Houston keeper Pat Onstad was able to parry away the shot.

For a long stretch after that chance, neither side was able to create a clear cut chance. Houston began to dominate the play, and controlled the tempo throughout much of the rest of the first half. They played several searching long balls over the United back line, but on several cases just missed out on creating any clear cut opportunities for themselves. On the other hand, D.C. failed to create any goal scoring threats, as their inability to control the ball and pass it around meant that they hardly made a positive impact on the game.

Just when the half seemed to be slipping into obscurity, Houston ignited the crowd with three goals in a three minute span.

All-Star midfielder Brad Davis began the honors for Houston, netting his fourth goal of the season. Davis received the ball on the left from Dominic Oduro, before making his way towards the middle of the field. Davis fancied his chances, and let fly a shot from outside the box. United keeper Josh Wicks seemed to have his view blocked, and the ball bounced right by him, giving Houston the 1-0 lead in the 36th minute.

United failed to recover from the first goal, and just two minutes later, were made to pay the price. Ching, in his first appearance with Houston since the start of the Gold Cup scored his sixth goal of the season. Oduro played a lovely touch onto the path of Ching, who then made his way towards goal. D.C. defender Bryan Namoff defended the far post, which forced Ching to shot near post. The shot was powerful enough to get through the hands of Wicks at the near post, as he could not stop the well hit effort, as Houston went up 2-0.

Finally, a minute later, Houston added their third, again, from Ching. Ching and defender Mike Chabala combined nicely down the left hand flank, which ended with Chabala having the ball near the touch line, deep in United territory. Ching peeled off his defender in the box, found some space, and then received a pass from Chabala. Ching then one timed a side footed shot, and the ball somehow made its way through a crowd in front of the goal, and Houston were cruising, up 3-0 before the end of the half.

Completely flabbergasted, DC were unable to muster any sort of chance at the end of the half, which meant that Houston went into the half with a comfortable 3-0 lead, over a team that they had never conceded to at Robertson Stadium.

Second Half

The new half brought about a couple of changes for United, as they looked to reverse their fortunes. United coach Tom Soehn decided to bring on defender Avery John and striker Luciano Emilio, was Ben Olsen and Gomez made way. With the changes, United changed to a 4-4-2 formation, different from their favored 3-5-2 set up.

And with the change, came an immediate change in the scoreline, as United scored through Emilio, who netted his seventh goal of the season in the 48th minute. From a foul near midfield, Namoff played a quick free kick, looking for Emilio in the box. Emilio knocked the ball down, and controlled it, before taking a shot towards the goal. The shot took a wicked deflection off of Houston defender Julius James, and looped over Onstad and into the goal, bringing United back to just 3-1 down.

With momentum switching to United's favor after the goal, they began to apply more pressure all over the field, searching for an opportunity to create another goal. Chances were few and far between, but the best came for Chris Pontius in the 63rd minute. A loose ball bounced in the box, and Pontius was the first to react, and had just Onstad to beat from six yards out. But his shot was straight at Onstad, and Houston cleared the danger before United could create anymore.

The missed chance at that end hurt even more moments later, as Houston won a penalty kick down at the other end of the field just a minute later. Oduro was taken down from behind in the box by United defender Dejan Jakovic, and Houston were awarded a penalty. Holden stepped up to the spot, and confidently sent the ball right down the middle, with Wicks diving away. Just like that, when they could have just been down a goal with 25 minutes to play, United found themselves down 4-1.

United were not done though -- something that has been learned from some of their other matches this season. With that in mind, United scored again in the 75th minute, this time, courtesy of Brazilian playmaker Fred. Jaime Moreno fed the ball out wide for Fred, who then turned in, and made his way towards the middle of the field. From 25 yards out, Fred released an unstoppable shot, which Onstad could not reach, fully stretched, and United were again down by two, with fifteen minutes remaining in the match.

Amazingly enough, United were able to find another goal, as Emilio scored his second on the night in the 87th minute. Defender Marc Burch sent a corner kick towards the far post, which substitute Danny Szetela was able to head towards Emilio. Emilio tried a back heel shot, which was parried away by Onstad's feet. The ball fell to the head of Santino Quaranta, who sent another header towards the goal. But the ball found its way towards Emilio, who redirected the ball with a header, easily beating Onstad, and bring United back within one goal, with three minutes plus stoppage time to play.

Thats where United ran out of steam however, as Houston began to play the ball around the field confidently, and denying United possession to create any chances. Oduro had a chance to ensure Houston a victory in stoppage time, but his effort from point blank range was stopped by Wicks. United were unable to mount any more attacks, and after four minutes of stoppage time, Houston ran out 4-3 winners over United.

Steven Streff, Goal.com

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