The Houston Dynamo recorded its first victory since June 11, and Toronto FC’s road-game well remained parched of a win in the 2011 season as two second-half goals and a shutout performance salvaged three points for the Dynamo at Robertson Stadium on Saturday.
The result lifts the Dynamo over Sporting Kansas City to sit in fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings and blows life into the team’s sails as it preps for the second half of the season. Houston hosts Sporting Kansas City next Saturday.
Danny Cruz and Brian Ching snapped droughts of their own when they combined for a 50th minute goal. Cruz recorded his first goal since June 26, 2010 after jumping on the end of Ching’s through ball and tucking it in the far post. Toronto FC goalkeeper Stefan Frei could only knick the ball as Cruz shot unchallenged from eight yards out on the right. It was Ching’s first assist since October 3, 2010.
Still, the second-half goal arrived as a much delayed relief to a Dynamo bunch that controlled the match from the opening whistle. Will Bruin and Cruz instigated a golden opportunity in just the seventh minute, only to watch normally-composed Brad Davis launch the ball well high of the frame. Bruin and Cruz would squander chances of their own in the opening half, while Toronto FC’s offense defined mediocrity and failed to sniff out a single crack toward goal. Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall picnicked for his fifth MLS shutout.
In fact, the visitors’ only real impression in the game statistics emerged from three yellow cards, two of which were issued for reckless tackles in a four-minute stint in the second half as a fatigued Toronto could not turn the momentum of the match. Toronto will be without stalwart defender Richard Eckersley in its next game, who was booked after fouling Cruz in the 29th minute, due to yellow-card accumulation.
The Dynamo would set off fireworks of a different kind and help cement the momentum in its favor with a flurry of activity deep in Toronto territory that resulted in Geoff Cameron’s third goal of the season. Midfielder Je-Vaughn Watson deftly sent Bruin in on a breakaway. The rookie was denied by Frei as was Colin Clark, who could only look on as Frei acrobatically tipped his effort over the crossbar. The ensuing corner kick, however, would be deflected toward Cameron, and the three-year veteran banked his ninth MLS goal from close range.
The victory gives the Dynamo a vital confidence boost to embrace for Sporting Kansas City’s invasion of Robertson Stadium on July 16 at 7:30pm. Kansas City comes in having last tasted defeat on May 21 when the team fell 1-0 in stoppage time at Seattle. The squad has racked up a 5-0-4 record following that time, including a five-game and counting unbeaten streak at home since the ribbon-cutting of LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. Saturday’s opponents, along with the Portland Timbers, are the only two clubs the Dynamo has yet to face in 2011. Last season, Houston defeated Kansas City 3-0 at home and succumbed to a 4-3 defeat on the road. Only one point separates fourth-place Houston from fifth-place Kansas City in the Eastern Conference standings.
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