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June 13, 2009
HOUSTON SLAPS DOWN FCD 3-1
Dynamo goalie snuffs FCD finishing
By Phil Stephens
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Ray Burse covers out this shot by Houston's Cam Weaver, but the Dynamo still got by Dallas 3-1 Saturday at Pizza Hut Park.
Photo by Michael Stephens |
FRISCO, TX—FC Dallas got the most of everything except for what counts the most—goals. The orange-hot Houston Dynamo swept into Pizza Hut Park and did what it does the best; win, 3-1 over Dallas. Houston has not lost in 10 games and just ended a five-game Dallas streak without a loss. Eight of the last nine games for the Dynamo have ended as a “W.”
It only took one play for the Houston Dynamo to graphically illustrate the difference between a winning team and one that tries hard. To start the game, Dallas came out pushing, pressing and banging at the Dynamo goal box. Four good opportunities in the first 10 minutes went for zero, but Houston put away their first shot in clinical fashion to go up 1-0 in the 12th minute.
The Dynamo pushed down the right flank on a combo from Andrew Hainault to Brian Mullen, who whipped the pass to Cam Weaver who slammed the ball on a driving shot left of center, about five yards out. Mullen got past Anthony Wallace and Weaver beat Drew Moor flying in to the play just a moment late.
That let the air out of the Dallas attack for a long stretch, but the home team climbed back to attack mode that saw plenty of chances. Once again, it was Houston bagging the markers.
On a Dynamo attack in the 36th minute, Kenny Cooper came back to head a shot by Stuart Holden out of the box. It went right to Richard Mulrooney above the arc and he nailed a hard floater that FCD goalie Ray Burse had no chance to see, much less get to because he was blinded on the play. The Dallas players were bunched in the box on the corner and Mulrooney was alone. Pablo Richetti was the only Dallas player rushing out to thwart Mulrooney, but was too late to stop the shot. That took Houston to the locker room ahead 2-0.
With time wasting away, Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman made a tactical change that backfired in a blink. He brought left back Anthony Wallace off and inserted midfield attacker Eric Avila. Before Dallas fully made the adjustment to a 3-5-2 attacking alignment, Houston took a quick shot down the left side, going from Dominic Douro (who just subbed in), to Corey Ashe and on to Brian Mullen, who stuck it in for a 3-0 lead.
In less than a minute, Dallas retaliated and Drew Moor headed in his third goal of the season from a Dax McCarty cross. That gave Dallas a glimmer of a hope, with 23 minutes left in the game. But by this time, the Dynamo defense was in more control than in the first half and FCD’s chances were squeezed out.
But it didn’t really seem to matter, FCD was not finishing its chances this night and it proved to be the difference. Dallas outshot Houston both halves and in the game, 14-11. Houston had more shots on target 7-6 and of course, in the net.
“We have to get more finishing,” FCD coach Hyndman said.
“We really started off well. We came after them and pushed it hard. We created opportunities, but just didn’t put it away.”
In the early going, with Dallas flowing to the box, Kenny Cooper got a cross from the left and could have tried a shot between two defenders, but tried a pass to David Ferreira, who was muscled out of position. A minute later, Ferreira ran on to the ball at the top of the box, another pass from Cooper, and miss-hit the ball.
Jeff Cunningham dribbled at the top of the box in the eighth minute, turned an cranked a shot that just went barely wide right of the goal.
Two minutes later, Cunningham sent a pass back to Moor, coming up from the back on the right, and he flew a cross low in front of the box that Ferreira couldn’t quite reach. Dallas was losing a game of inches.
Dallas was back on the attack in the 18th minute when Dave van den Bergh sent a cross from the left to Cooper on the right post. The connection missed by scant inches.
The most scintillating chance may have come in the 32nd minute when Ferreira broke through down the middle and went one-v-one on Houston goalie Pat Onstad. Ferreira made his play, sending a low scorcher that Onstad stopped with a foot-save to his right. If the shot had a little more elevation, it might have equalized.
“Onstad made a great save for us in the first half when Dallas could have equalized,” Houston coach Dominic Kinnear said.
Just a minute after Ferreira’s opportunity, McCarty headed the ball and Cooper just missed making a connection.
Just before the half, Cooper had another good chance, taking a pass from Ferreira just left of the arc above the box, and sent the pass wide right of the goal. Cooper was fronted, however with a Houston defender that forced the angle.
Brek Shea came into the game in the second half and again turned up the pressure for Dallas, but still with the same results.
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