After 135 minutes of scoreless soccer, the Houston Dynamo and CSD Municipal knew something had to give in the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions' Cup quarterfinal Wednesday at Robertson Stadium.
Although neither made any major adjustments at the break, the Dynamo made the breakthrough less than a minute into the second half and went on to a 3-1 win and spot in the semifinals. The decisive play came from midfielder Dwayne De Rosario, who failed to maintain possession of Brian Ching's initial pass but latched onto a failed clearance and slotted home past Municipal 'keeper Jaime Penedo.
"It was a big play. Ching played the ball down to me, and we're getting a bit more understanding of each other," De Rosario said. "I held my run, and thankfully the ball trickled back to me, and I just turned and finished it."
The goal seemed to inspire the Dynamo into applying increased pressure on Municipal throughout an energetic second half that saw four goals and five yellow cards.
"Dwayne got us off to great start in the second half with persistence on the first goal," Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear said. "We gave them a lot of pressure and created crosses, especially off the corner kicks. We played just a tiny bit better and got sharper in the second half."
De Rosario credited wide midfielders Corey Ashe and Richard Mulrooney with adjusting to Municipal's crowded central midfield that gave Houston fits in the game's first 20 minutes.
"They were coming at us and trying to dictate the pace of the game, and we had to re-adapt to that," De Rosario said. "In the second half, we wanted to set the tone of the game, and we did that well. We adapted to their game by closing down the middle, and Corey and Richard did a good job of stopping them there."
Ashe was also active getting forward during the game, and he played a major part in Houston's second and third goals. First he received a pass from De Rosario and sprinted into the penalty area, eventually drawing a penalty kick that De Rosario converted. In the 75th minute, after the teams had exchanged shoves and yellow cards near the center circle, Ashe set up Chris Wondolowski for the clinching goal.
Despite the second-half offensive heroics, the Dynamo also had veteran goalkeeper Pat Onstad to thank for the win. Onstad made two crucial saves, stopping Mario Rodriguez on a 37th-minute breakaway and making a reflex save with his feet on Gonzalo Romero in the second half.
"He holds his ground, and he makes the person with the chance beat him," Kinnear said. "He doesn't commit himself or give away what he wants to do early. He's ready any time the ball comes his way. He's always focused."
The Dynamo remain focused on improving on last year's semifinal exit in the Champions' Cup, and they will begin semifinal action on April 2 against the winner of the series between Mexico's Atlante and Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica, days after their MLS regular season opener at New England.
Jonathan Yardley is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
