HOUSTON DYNAMO vs. NEW YORK RED BULLS
ROBERTSON STADIUM, Houston, Texas
May 31, 2008 | 7:30 p.m. CT (HDNet)
WEEK # 10 | GAME # 66
The Houston Dynamo and New York Red Bulls meet for the first time this season in Saturday's match at Robertson Stadium. The Dynamo were seconds away from a second successive loss after their first two victories on the campaign - before another dramatic equalizer against FC Dallas gave them a 2-2 draw at midweek. The Red Bulls come into the game off their heaviest defeat in nearly a decade, a 5-1 loss to the Chicago Fire at home last Sunday in Juan Carlos Osorio's first game against the club he coached last season.
REFEREE:
Andrew Chapin. SAR (bench): Kermit Quisenberry; JAR (opposite): Claudio Badea; 4th: Ricardo Salazar
MLS Career: 20 games; FC/gm: 28.8; Y/gm: 5.1; R: 4; pens: 2
INJURY REPORT:
HOUSTON DYNAMO - OUT: FW James Georgeff (L ankle sprain); DOUBTFUL: DF Wade Barrett (L adductor strain) ... NEW YORK RED BULLS - OUT: DF Michael Palacio (L knee injury); DOUBTFUL: MF David Roth (L knee surgery); QUESTIONABLE: MF Seth Stammler (lower back injury); FW Oscar Echeverry (R LCL sprain)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES:
HOU: Dwayne De Rosario, Pat Onstad (Canada; vs. Brazil, May 31)
SUSPENDED:
HOU: Eddie Robinson (through June 1)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: HOU: Ricardo Clark
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: HOU: Bobby Boswell; Dwayne De Rosario ... NY: Sinisa Ubiparipovic
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (4 meetings): Dynamo 1 win, 6 goals ... Red Bulls 1 win, 3 goals ... Ties 2
AT ROBERTSON STADIUM (2 meetings): Dynamo 1 win, 5 goals ... Red Bulls 0 win, 1 goal ... Ties 1
• This is the first of two meetings between the teams this season, the only one to be played at Robertson Stadium. The teams will conclude their league season series at Giants Stadium on Aug. 24.
LAST YEAR (MLS):
4/21: NY 1, HOU 0 (Altidore 60)
7/5: HOU 4, NY 0 (Ngwenya 28, 50; Ching 31; Holden 80)
• After playing to two draws in the Dynamo's first season in the league, each team won on their home ground last year, and each by shutout.
• The New York victory, on May 19, was the third in an MLS-record season-opening string of four shutouts. The Houston victory, a 4-0 triumph on July 5, was the second of three 4-0 victories by the Dynamo in the space of less than a month, all on MLS Primetime Thursday.
• Coaches record: Dominic Kinnear v NY: P9 W4 L2 D3 ... Juan Carlos Osorio vs. HOU: P1 W0 L1 D0
HOUSTON DYNAMO
For the second time this season, the Houston Dynamo got a dramatic late equalizer to snatch a draw against in-state rivals FC Dallas, this time getting a Dwayne De Rosario for a 2-2 tie Wednesday night at Pizza Hut Park. The Dynamo have 11 points from 10 matches, tied for fourth in the Western Conference with Chivas USA entering the weekend, still within three points of the top spot in the division.
LAST MATCH
• FC Dallas were coming off their first victory in five matches, a comeback win against Real Salt Lake in Marco Ferruzzi's first game in charge, while the Dynamo had seen their brief two-game winning streak come to an end in a loss in the club's first-ever trip to San Jose, since the move to Houston.
• The Hoops took the lead after 35 minutes. Pablo Richetti flighted a free kick from near the halfway stripe, and Kenny Cooper escaped attention on the left. He brought down the ball, pushed into the penalty area past a defender and curled a perfect shot inside the far post for his sixth goal on the season.
• The Dynamo pulled even 14 minutes after the second-half restart. Dwayne De Rosario worked his way down the right and pulled in a low cross into the goalmouth. Brian Ching corralled it there, but instead of shooting, slid to Corey Ashe who tapped in from close range.
• But 10 minutes later, FCD again pulled in front. A corner kick was swung in from the right and Drew Moor rose up to powerfully head home for his first goal on the year.
• Both teams were left a man short in the 80th minute after an incident between FCD's Andre Rocha and Houston's Eddie Robinson saw both sent off, Andre Rocha with a straight red card and Robinson with a second yellow of the match.
• Three minutes into second-half stoppage time, Dynamo struck again. An Ashe cross from the right found Ching, and after his snap header was pushed onto the bar by FCD 'keeper Dario Sala, De Rosario strolled in late to sidefoot home for the tying goal. In the teams' first meeting this season, Geoff Cameron hit for the equalizer in stoppage time with a stunning long-range strike, leaving the teams knotted at 3-3.
• Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear made three changes to the team that lost 2-1 to the San Jose Earthquakes the previous Thursday. Wade Barrett was out injured and Ricardo Clark suspended, so Geoff Cameron came in at right back and Craig Waibel on the left, as Richard Mulrooney moved to the holding midfield role. Kyle Brown made the start in attack, in place of Franco Caraccio.
• Here's Kinnear's team (4-3-1-2): Pat Onstad - Geoff Cameron, Bobby Boswell, Eddie Robinson, Craig Waibel - Brian Mullan (Corey Ashe 46), Richard Mulrooney, Stuart Holden (Chris Wondolowski 85) - Dwayne De Rosario - Kyle Brown (Brad Davis 58), Brian Ching. Substitutes Not Used: Tony Caig, Franco Caraccio, Mike Chabala, Patrick Ianni
• "A pretty emotional game, as it always is with these two teams," Kinnear said. "They may consider themselves a little unlucky in the two games they played against us with our late goals in both games, but I give our guys credit for the drive and determination to keep on pushing forward."
TEAM NEWS
• It was a night of tactical adjustments for Kinnear, which started in giving Cameron his first start since April 6 - when he was the late hero in the 3-3 with FC Dallas. After about 15 minutes, Kinnear switched to a three-man back line and it was a move that paid dividends.
• "We changed the formation to get more guys forward and to get Dwayne (DeRosario) closer to goal," he said. "I don't think our communication was good and we had some new players out there who hadn't played in a while. Sometimes guys are a little bit timid with their voice and their play."
• Corey Ashe, just a couple of days after returning from France where he featured for the U.S. under-23 national team in the Toulon tournament, came on at halftime for Brian Mullan on the right side of the midfield.
• "I went to him at halftime and asked (Mullan) how he felt," Kinnear said. "He said that he felt awful and exhausted. In Chicago a few weeks ago, I think he had a viral infection. I think he's slow coming back from that."
• After playing on the right side of midfield for the U.S. team, the natural left-footer Ashe put in a cross with his right that led to the second equalizer, after scoring his first career MLS goal to bring Houston into a tie for the first time on the night.
• "Corey is a good player," Kinnear said. "He has played a lot of games for us and a lot of minutes. I'm glad he got his first goal tonight. He does have that threat to get in behind you and get good goals in the box. He brought us good energy tonight."
• The other key move came in the 58th when Brad Davis came on for Kyle Brown, who started up top alongside Brian Ching. That allowed DeRosario to move up top and that tandem helped lead to both Houston scores.
• "We definitely have a great understanding of each other," DeRosario said. "We played together forward in San Jose and that rubbed off a little bit tonight. When I'm up front, I have an idea of what he's going to do. So, I just try to put myself in a position to make it easy for him so he has an outlet."
• Said Kinnear: "It got us two goals. I think Dwayne's energy was excellent and gave him more freedom to run. Brian has been a horse in there but still needs service no matter who the pairing is and I think we scored goals from good service in the box."
NEW YORK RED BULLS
The New York Red Bulls saw their unbeaten run come to an end in stunning fashion, as the Chicago Fire exploded for four goals in a 14-minute span in the second half en route to a 5-1 rout on Sunday afternoon at Giants Stadium. The Red Bulls have 12 points from eight matches, good for fifth place in the Eastern Conference entering the week, two points behind Toronto FC.
LAST MATCH
• The two stoutest defenses in MLS were on display. The Fire had seen a three-game winning streak come to an end the week before, but had still allowed a league-low five goals, while the Red Bulls were riding a five-game unbeaten streak, having conceded just six goals.
• But it took the Fire just eight minutes to prise open the New York defense. Cuauhtemoc Blanco sent a long ball over the top from midfield, and Chad Barrett held off a defender before slotting home from inside the box.
• After the break, the visitors exploded. Freed by a long ball out of the back from Bakary Soumare, Blanco flighted a cross from the right flank and Chris Rolfe nodded it home to double the lead (48).
• Justin Mapp was tripped up as he burst into the area, and Blanco converted from the spot in the 55th minute to make it 3-0. Then Barrett hit for his second on the day, Mapp swinging in a bouncing cross from the left that Barrett stooped to head under a prone Jon Conway (60).
• The Fire completed the rout two minutes when Wilman Conde's header from a corner came back off the woodwork, but Gonzalo Segares lashed home the rebound. The Red Bulls scored a consolation goal 16 minutes from the end when Jozy Altidore flashed in at the near post to head home a corner.
• Red Bulls head coach Juan Carlos Osorio made three changes to the team that claimed a 1-1 draw with the Kansas City Wizards the weekend before. Carlos Mendes came in to a deep-lying midfield role, Danleigh Borman was given the start wide on the left and Claudio Reyna returned to the lineup, as Dave van den Bergh was suspended as Mike Magee and Jozy Altidore returned to the substitutes' bench.
• Here's Osorio's team (4-2-3-1): Jon Conway - Hunter Freeman, Andrew Boyens, Jeff Parke, Kevin Goldthwaite - Carlos Mendes (Mike Magee 55), Luke Sassano - Dane Richards (Jozy Altidore 55), Claudio Reyna (Sinisa Ubiparipovic 79), Danleigh Borman - Juan Pablo Angel. Substitutes Not Used: Chris Leitch, Chris Megaloudis, Zach Thornton, John Wolyniec
• "If you are going to analyze the teams, it was a 4-2-3-1 against a 4-2-3-1, but I always say it comes down to the players and they performed better than us," Osorio said. "We were a very easy team to play against today. I didn't recall any physical contact between us and Cuauhtemoc (Blanco), Chad (Barrett), Justin (Mapp), and Chris Rolfe. We were not ready and it seemed to me from the start we were not interested."
TEAM NEWS
• It was a historic defeat for the Red Bulls, which hadn't suffered this lopsided a loss at home since June 5, 1999, when they fell 5-2 to Dallas. The last time New York gave up more than five goals in a defeat was July 3, 2004 at D.C. United.
• "I just think for whatever reason, we got behind the 8-ball in the first half, 1-0. In the second half, we're still in the game, 1-0. In the first 20 minutes, we didn't really do anything," said Hunter Freeman. "I don't know if weren't ready, playing in the heat, I don't know. I'm not trying to make excuses but I've never seen us play like that, regardless for the whole 90 minutes."
• Unlike other teams, the Red Bulls did not come in with a plan to man-mark Fire playmaker Cuauhtémoc Blanco. The Mexican international ended up being involved in all five Chicago goals in some way.
• "Without blaming anyone, every time I turned around I couldn't believe how much time he had," Claudio Reyna said. "Juan (Pablo Angel) and I sat at halftime and said we never have time like that. He just seemed to be running into spaces and didn't really know why he was so open at times. ... Pace isn't his thing and he was getting wide open on the ball."
• For the Fire, it was a measure of revenge, beating their former coach, Osorio, who watched the game from a Giants Stadium suite after being sent off the week before against Kansas City.
• "It's always disappointing to lose," Freeman said. "To lose 5-1 is embarrassing and then obviously you always want to support your coach and I think we're all behind coach here. For me, personally, it makes it even worse of a loss."
• After starting the last six games, Altidore came off the bench early in the second half - yet still struck for his team-leading third goal on the season.
• "He had an in-grown toenail and he was unable to train for two days during the week and I decided to go with somebody else," said Osorio.
