The Houston Dynamo had yet to win on the road in the 2011 season, so when the team trekked to Dallas to play in the most road-unfriendly locale of them all, Geoff Cameron’s last minute goal to give Houston a 1-0 victory could be described as nothing short of “magical”.
Call it luck, because by many standards it was, but the Dynamo’s victory gave the team the right to reclaim El Capitan, the Civil War-era howitzer emblematic of the Texas Derby rivalry with FC Dallas. Even more crucially, the three-point result propelled the team into first place in the Eastern Conference standings, slightly ahead of Sporting KC and the Columbus Crew. Both Kansas City and Columbus have a game in hand over Houston.
Perhaps it wasn’t so much that the Dynamo was lucky but instead that FC Dallas was extremely unlucky not to bury at least one of its many quality chances on the Houston goal frame. Although Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall had a noteworthy performance on the afternoon, it was the woodwork that proved to be the Dynamo’s saving grace.
After the Dynamo’s Luiz Camargo rushed for the game’s first chance in just the second minute, the first half momentum shifted over to the home side. FC Dallas chucked several shots on target, but Hall was able to keep his team out of trouble. In the 12th minute, FC Dallas’s Jackson worked his way into the Dynamo box and fired what appeared to be a sure goal before Hall sprawled to his right to leave the nearly 11,000 fans in Pizza Hut Park stunned.
Nevertheless, Dallas seemed to have snapped its almost month-long MLS scoring drought in the 42nd minute when Andrew Jacobson blasted a volley across the goal line, but referee Ricardo Salazar called George John for interfering with Hall prior to Hall’s punch that fell on Jacobson’s feet.
Dallas persisted in running the show as it entered the second half of play. The Dynamo was kept confined on defense as FC Dallas tried to no avail to capitalize. Jackson sniffed the goal once again as he broke free to attack Hall from a tight angle on the right. The Brazilian sent a cunning shot that nicked off the far post and away from the goal. John then attempted to provide heroics for the home side, but his header off a corner kick just minutes later was denied by the crossbar.
FC Dallas should’ve known. It should’ve known that if the Houston Dynamo was left in the match for too long that the squad would break through in the end. Houston has had a history of late game fireworks, and it used this rivalry match for one of the greatest shows of them all.
Brad Davis lined up for his league-leading 14th assist in an 87th minute corner kick. Davis sent a cross to the head of Geoff Cameron who snapped in the game-winning goal. Cameron’s fifth goal of the season ties his career high and also brings him level with Brian Ching and Will Bruin for the team lead.
The goal also marks the 10th time that Houston has scored within the final 11 minutes to win or tie a match this season and the sixth time within the last nine games that it has done so. Houston leads the MLS with 14 goals scored in the 15 minutes of play, a statistic not to be underscored as the playoffs loom in the near future.
Houston will attempt to retain its first-place position in the Eastern Conference when it faces the Chicago Fire at home next Saturday. Meanwhile, FC Dallas will look to snap its winless skid in Colorado against an equally fraught Rapids squad next weekend.
