After defeating intrastate rivals FC Dallas at Robertson Stadium on Sunday night, Houston Dynamo are back atop the Western Conference standings by the narrowest of margins.
After two consecutive 1-0 defeats to Real Salt Lake and Colorado, followed by a heartbreaking and draining shootout loss to Pachuca on Tuesday, Houston was very happy to get the win.
"This was a big game against Dallas, and anytime we play them, we get up for it," said Dynamo forward Nate Jaqua. "We haven't done well the last couple of games in the league, so we wanted to get a victory pretty bad. We put a good effort forward, and it was good to get out of it with a 1-0 victory."
Houston got its lone goal in the 42nd minute when Brian Mullan sent in a cross to Brian Ching, who knocked a diving header into the left side of the net. The Houston defense carried the Orange from there, led by goalkeeper Pat Onstad, who finished with five saves.
"This was a big game. I thought we were a bit fortunate tonight. We had a few scary moments there toward the end, but I thought we had a good performance," Onstad said. "It was one of those nights where I saw the ball a lot. I think the way we defend as a whole, there are nights I don't see the ball as much, but I thought we played well tonight."
Dynamo did have some scary moments near the end of the game where some defensive miscues nearly cost them a goal. In the final moments, FCD's Clarence Goodson hit a shot from the right side that nearly found goal, but it went wide and out of bounds.
Little lapses like that made Dynamo defender Eddie Robinson, who picked up his eighth yellow card of the season in the 34th minute and as a result will sit out the next game, criticize the team's decisions over the final minutes.
"I think it was a ridiculous yellow," Robinson said. "It wasn't even a foul. Missing next week, it (stinks) that my teammates have to suffer because of that. I think we were a bit lucky tonight. We made some mistakes in the last 10 minutes. We had the ball three times in the corner, and we could have killed it for at least two minutes. Guys were busting their butts to try to get into the box, wasting energy that should have been used protecting the lead.
"That being said, we fought hard tonight. We won almost every second ball. Kudos to Ricardo (Clark) and Dwayne (De Rosario) and Nate (Jaqua). (Brian Ching) did an awesome job. (Chris Wondolowski, too) when he came in. The guys fought and battled. I think it's a little bit of redemption for the last two weeks because I think we kind of let our minds rest. We should have let our bodies rest."
The two losses dropped Dynamo into second place, a point behind FC Dallas. But the win maintained their perfect record in Houston against the Hoops, who have lost on every visit to the Bayou City.
"The last two losses were tough, and I think the guys tonight showed that was a bit of fluke, and we are not going to let that happen again," Robinson said. "We have to be sharp for the playoffs because we know anything can happen because we have been on both sides. We have to let our bodies rest and not our minds."
Head coach Dominic Kinnear thought it was a good win and was proud of his team and happy to get the three points to put the Orange back on top of the West, even though he, too, thought they could have managed the final minutes better.
"Good win. Tough win. You could see at the end of the game the guys were getting tired," Kinnear said. "They were a little leggy. We could have managed the game a little better at the end, but I like the way we played tonight. We kept on attacking and could have had another goal or two. Our defense came up big, especially Pat there at the end."
Dynamo went through a rocky start to their season, but overcame that with an 11-game unbeaten run. The back-to-back league losses came in the middle of a busy period, but Dynamo feel they are in a good place heading into the final stretch of the season.
"The season isn't over, but we're happy with how we played, especially after Tuesday's draining and emotional night," Kinnear said. "For the guys to come back the first 10 to 15 minutes and set the tone and push them back a little bit, and then the defense took care of it from there."
After everything the Dynamo have gone through the last two weeks, the win was important for everyone in the Houston locker room.
"A big win on all accounts -- mentally, physically and the atmosphere," said Dynamo midfielder Richard Mulrooney. "Not saying we weren't confident and not saying we were down around here, but when we lost a couple league games and knocked out of SuperLiga when we played well, a win like this lifts things up on all levels."
Added DeRosario: "It's been a long two or three months, and now we are getting back into our habit of doing things with a game every week. The way to end it like this, was the way to end a long stretch. To play against a team that's an intrastate rivalry, a team that's in our division and a team that's ahead of us, to beat them and get back first place not only in the Western Conference but also in the league, we're glad by the way we played and the heart and determination."
Jeremy Rakes is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
