Houston Bounced From CCL After 3-2 Loss

Coming into the night, the Houston Dynamo knew they needed full points from a trip to El Salvador to have any chance at making the CONCACAF Champions League knockout rounds. The Major League Soccer side did themselves no favor shipping two early goals and spent 90 minutes of the match trying to undo their mistakes.

Though Houston would come back to tie the match just before the break, a Metapan goal ten minutes into the second half was enough to send the home side out on a winning note and bounce the MLS team from the competition with a 3-2 loss.

First Half

A sloppy start from Houston saw the visitors gift an early goal to Metapan just over six minutes into the match. A poor exchange between the Houston center backs led to Elias Montes having a clear look at goal. The veteran striker took it on first time and it was 1-0 early on.

Less that two minutes later another bit of bad play from the Houston back line allowed Anel Canales to skirt in free on Tally Hall's net. Again the finish was solid and the home side had a 2-0 lead inside ten minutes.

Houston would fight back before the half. In the 28th a nice pass from Brian Ching slotted Geoff Cameron in behind the Metapan defense. Cameron's left-footed shot found the corner and the visitors were back within striking distance.

The equalizer came in the oddest of fashions. A drop pass from defender Craig Waibel to Hall just before the break led to the keeper feeding what seemed to be a hopeful long ball in towards Ching's head. But as the striker challenged Metapan's 'keeper, the ball seemed to get lost in the mix and drifted into the goal, leaving Hall as the unlikely hero.

Despite the poor start Houston had to be happy to go to the break level while the Salvadorians were upset with that Ching had not been called for a foul on the second goal.

Second Half

Houston brought on Stuart Holden to begin the second half and looked to be somewhat in control of the match until Metapan regained the lead in the 56th. A freekick from 40 yards out was struck well by Emerson Umana, and though it needed a slight deflection, beat Hall and gave the home side another lead.

Houston continued to fight and pressed the game, but Metapan 'keeper Alvaro Alfaro, who was brought on at the half, was up to the task and did well to keep his side in front on a number of occasions.

Despite dominating possession the Dynamo clearly lacked ideas in the final third and Metapan did very well in defending their goal and wasting enough time to kill off the game.

With the loss Houston is eliminated from the CCL. That leaves Pachuca and Arabe Unido as the teams from Group A who will make it to the next round.

Goal.com

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