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Houston Holds Fire Scoreless In 1-0 Win
Stuart Holden led the Houston Dynamo with one goal in a 1-0 win over Chicago. The Dynamo are now unbeaten in eight mathces, posting a 6-0-2 record during that span.
Jun 6, 2009 4:46:52 AM
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – The Houston Dynamo didn’t waste much time against the Chicago Fire. The club jumped out to a 1-0 lead in just the fourth minute. Despite a number of chances for both sides, the game ended in a 1-0 Dynamo win.
Houston stretched its unbeaten streak to eight games, dating back to April 11th. In that time, the Dynamo has collected a 6-0-2 record, while posting six shutouts. The Dynamo has also outscored opponents 12-2.
The Fire dropped its second straight match via shutout. In that span, Chicago’s offense, which still leads the league with 20 goals scored, has been silenced. The Fire has not scored since a Cuauhtemoc Blanco penalty kick in injury time at Chivas USA – a 3-2 Fire win.
Houston (6-2-3, 21 pts.) is now even with Chicago (5-2-6, 21 pts.) in the MLS standings. The Dynamo remains in second place, with a four-point advantage over Seattle in the West.
“We had a slow start to the season,” Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear said. “I knew we’d pick up points later. We’ve gotten 20 points in the latest stretch, which has helped us. We’ve been chasing Chivas USA. We’ve only given up two goals in the last eight games.”
First Half
The Dynamo entered the match with an attacking mindset. From the first whistle, they began pressuring. And just four minutes into the match, they were up 1-0. Dynamo defender Andrew Hainault passed the ball up field to forward Kei Kamara. He dodged Chicago defender C.J. Brown. It looked as if Kamara might take the shot. But instead, he crossed it to Stuart Holden in the box. Holden had no trouble getting it past Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch, sending a high ball up and over the keeper for a 1-0 lead.
“It was one play again. That was it,” Busch said. “Other than that, we played well. We let Stuart slip through and he finished a goal.”
The rest of the half belonged to the Fire. In the seventh minute, a Patrick Nyarko run was shut down by defenders Bobby Boswell and Geoff Cameron. Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad grabbed the ball before it caused any more trouble.
Fire midfielder Marco Pappa made a run in the 11th minute. He crossed the ball to defender Tim Ward, who forwarded it to Nyarko. Nyarko sent the ball into the box and it was cleared by the defense.
In the 16th minute, Fire defender C.J. Brown cleared a Houston attempted and rocketed a long shot up field toward Nyarko. A speedy Nyarko dodged the defense and Onstad. Nyarko sent a perfect shot wide right of goal, by just a couple inches.
Chicago midfielder John Thorrington sent the ball to forward Chris Rolfe at the top of the box in the 24th minute. Rolfe shot the ball toward goal. It appeared to deflect off a defender and out. But after the ball sailed high, the referee called it a goal kick. Fire defensive mifielder Logan Pause blasted a shot at net a minute later, which sailed high and out.
Onstad smothered a McBride attempt in the 33rd minute. And then Dynamo defender Richard Mulrooney came up big for the visitors. Pappa bent a corner kick into the box. McBride headed the ball to Nyarko on the left side of the box. Nyarko headed a short ball right toward goal. Mulrooney stuck with him and sent the ball out for a Fire corner kick.
Chicago out shot Houston 6 to 1 in the first half, with two shots on goal.
"We had some good chances the first half to get that equalizer," Fire head coach Denis Hamlett said. "We made a great push. The second half we probably didn’t create as much, probably a result of them dropping in a little deeper. But tonight we created enough chances to get a goal and we didn’t. Sometimes that’s how it goes. We have to be a little more clinical in our final third."
Second Half
While Houston expected Chicago to come out firing on all cylinders… the pace slowed down a bit in the second half. Two minutes in Nyarko sent a point-blank shot directly at Onstad. Chicago brought on fresh legs in the second half, including Justin Mapp who entered the game in the 63rd minute.
Five minutes later, Mapp crossed a perfect ball into the net. Nyarko ran to catch up with it, but couldn’t quite get there.
Before the Chicago players could all get on the same page, Houston turned up the heat. In the 71st minute, Holden settled a deflection in the box and shot it into the right side outer netting. Two minutes later, Kamara attempted a shot, but it soared over the net. In the 82nd minute Craig Waibel headed the ball wide right.
The Fire added Mike Banner and Baggio Husidic to the lineup. But none of the Fire players seemed to be on the same page. Houston pressured once more with Brad Davis sending a shot high in the 90th minute. The Dynamo held on to win the match, 1-0.
“We got on top of them early,” Kamara said. “Kei did a good job of getting me the ball. I lost my man. It was a quick up and over shot over their keeper. We knew they were going to give it a good go. We neutralized that. We couldn’t be happier to leave here with a win.”
Chicago again had one slip, which cost them the game.
"It’s a big concern,” Hamlett said. “It seems like at home we make that one mistake and the other team punishes us. Good teams will punish you, and Houston is a good team.”
Kathryn L. Knapp, Goal.com
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com’s MLS page.
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Houston stretched its unbeaten streak to eight games, dating back to April 11th. In that time, the Dynamo has collected a 6-0-2 record, while posting six shutouts. The Dynamo has also outscored opponents 12-2.
The Fire dropped its second straight match via shutout. In that span, Chicago’s offense, which still leads the league with 20 goals scored, has been silenced. The Fire has not scored since a Cuauhtemoc Blanco penalty kick in injury time at Chivas USA – a 3-2 Fire win.
Houston (6-2-3, 21 pts.) is now even with Chicago (5-2-6, 21 pts.) in the MLS standings. The Dynamo remains in second place, with a four-point advantage over Seattle in the West.
“We had a slow start to the season,” Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear said. “I knew we’d pick up points later. We’ve gotten 20 points in the latest stretch, which has helped us. We’ve been chasing Chivas USA. We’ve only given up two goals in the last eight games.”
First Half
The Dynamo entered the match with an attacking mindset. From the first whistle, they began pressuring. And just four minutes into the match, they were up 1-0. Dynamo defender Andrew Hainault passed the ball up field to forward Kei Kamara. He dodged Chicago defender C.J. Brown. It looked as if Kamara might take the shot. But instead, he crossed it to Stuart Holden in the box. Holden had no trouble getting it past Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch, sending a high ball up and over the keeper for a 1-0 lead.
“It was one play again. That was it,” Busch said. “Other than that, we played well. We let Stuart slip through and he finished a goal.”
The rest of the half belonged to the Fire. In the seventh minute, a Patrick Nyarko run was shut down by defenders Bobby Boswell and Geoff Cameron. Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad grabbed the ball before it caused any more trouble.
Fire midfielder Marco Pappa made a run in the 11th minute. He crossed the ball to defender Tim Ward, who forwarded it to Nyarko. Nyarko sent the ball into the box and it was cleared by the defense.
In the 16th minute, Fire defender C.J. Brown cleared a Houston attempted and rocketed a long shot up field toward Nyarko. A speedy Nyarko dodged the defense and Onstad. Nyarko sent a perfect shot wide right of goal, by just a couple inches.
Chicago midfielder John Thorrington sent the ball to forward Chris Rolfe at the top of the box in the 24th minute. Rolfe shot the ball toward goal. It appeared to deflect off a defender and out. But after the ball sailed high, the referee called it a goal kick. Fire defensive mifielder Logan Pause blasted a shot at net a minute later, which sailed high and out.
Onstad smothered a McBride attempt in the 33rd minute. And then Dynamo defender Richard Mulrooney came up big for the visitors. Pappa bent a corner kick into the box. McBride headed the ball to Nyarko on the left side of the box. Nyarko headed a short ball right toward goal. Mulrooney stuck with him and sent the ball out for a Fire corner kick.
Chicago out shot Houston 6 to 1 in the first half, with two shots on goal.
"We had some good chances the first half to get that equalizer," Fire head coach Denis Hamlett said. "We made a great push. The second half we probably didn’t create as much, probably a result of them dropping in a little deeper. But tonight we created enough chances to get a goal and we didn’t. Sometimes that’s how it goes. We have to be a little more clinical in our final third."
Second Half
While Houston expected Chicago to come out firing on all cylinders… the pace slowed down a bit in the second half. Two minutes in Nyarko sent a point-blank shot directly at Onstad. Chicago brought on fresh legs in the second half, including Justin Mapp who entered the game in the 63rd minute.
Five minutes later, Mapp crossed a perfect ball into the net. Nyarko ran to catch up with it, but couldn’t quite get there.
Before the Chicago players could all get on the same page, Houston turned up the heat. In the 71st minute, Holden settled a deflection in the box and shot it into the right side outer netting. Two minutes later, Kamara attempted a shot, but it soared over the net. In the 82nd minute Craig Waibel headed the ball wide right.
The Fire added Mike Banner and Baggio Husidic to the lineup. But none of the Fire players seemed to be on the same page. Houston pressured once more with Brad Davis sending a shot high in the 90th minute. The Dynamo held on to win the match, 1-0.
“We got on top of them early,” Kamara said. “Kei did a good job of getting me the ball. I lost my man. It was a quick up and over shot over their keeper. We knew they were going to give it a good go. We neutralized that. We couldn’t be happier to leave here with a win.”
Chicago again had one slip, which cost them the game.
"It’s a big concern,” Hamlett said. “It seems like at home we make that one mistake and the other team punishes us. Good teams will punish you, and Houston is a good team.”
Kathryn L. Knapp, Goal.com
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com’s MLS page.
Want more from Goal.com delivered right to your door? Introducing "Goal.com Magazine." Subscribe now!
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