Houston Dynamo had a chance to clinch a berth in the knockout round of SuperLiga, but Monarcas Morelia had other ideas as the two teams played to a 1-1 draw Sunday night at Robertson Stadium.
After Joseph Ngwenya gave Houston a lead just 10 seconds into the game, Marcio Batista tied the game in the 74th minute, and the two teams battled from there to the draw.
With the draw, Dynamo now have four points, tying them with D.C. United for first place in Group B. Houston and D.C. face each other Wednesday night. Morelia now has two points, and faces the eliminated Club America on Wednesday in Bridgeview, Ill. for a chance to advance to the knockout round.
Ten seconds into the game, Ngwenya took a pass from Brian Ching off the kickoff and hit a soft shot into the right corner from just inside the upper left corner of the area past an out-of-place Morelia goalkeeper Moises Munoz to give the Orange a quick 1-0 lead.
In the sixth minute, Stuart Holden looked to make it 2-0 when he got a pass from Ching in the middle of the area, but Holden's shot was immediately saved by Munoz, who came off his line for the second time in the early going. Ching nearly extended the lead in the 11th minute, but his header off a Holden corner kick went wide left.
Houston goalkeeper Zach Wells was forced into action in the 15th minute when made a diving save to his right to stop Fernando Arce's free kick from 25 yards out on the left.
Comfortable in the lead and seemingly in control, Houston continued to create good chance. In the 22nd minute, Ching just missed another header high after a corner kick deflected off Craig Waibel. Then in the 24th minute, Ngwenya crossed from the right sideline to a diving Ching, who hit a header from the right side of the area that Munoz stopped.
But Morelia were still in the game and creating dangerous chances of their own. In the 33rd minute, after getting a cross in the right side of the area, Gonzalo Choy missed a header right. Then after Ching had a chance negated when the flag went up for offside, Morelia's Horacio Cervantes let fly from outside the right corner of the area, only to see it slip just wide.
Monarcas again brought a good save out of Wells in the 43rd minute when Jesus Castillo got free in the left side of the area, but Dynamo preserved their lead into the break.
Tempers flared just after the restart when Arce and De Rosario were issued yellow cards by referee Walter Quesada in the 47th minute. Arce appeared to slap Wade Barrett, and De Rosario shoved Arce in the back in retaliation.
In the 59th minute, Ching missed another header to the left side after a cross was sent into the left side of the area.
Since they weren't converting open chances, a freak chance nearly gave the Orange their second. A Morelia free kick was deflected on the left, and came out to Richard Mulrooney a full 40 yards from the goal with Munoz well off his line. Mulrooney tried to knock it back goalward first-time, but it screwed wide of the goal as the Monarcas scrambled across the field to reach it.
After hanging around Morelia tied the score in the 74th minute. A through ball came bouncing into the area, and Barrett held up, allowing Wells to come off his line to claim it. But with pressure from a Morelia attacker, the ball bounced off the sliding Wells and back to Batista, who took advantage of the empty net by slipping to the right of Barrett and pounding home a shot past a couple of Houston defenders in the goalmouth.
Dynamo nearly responded straight from the kickoff again. Holden's shot from 25 yards out was stopped by a diving save by Munoz. Mulrooney claimed the eventual clearance and passed it to De Rosario, who fired a shot from outside the top of the area on the right, forcing another diving save out of Munoz.
Tempers between the two teams continued to flare as Brian Mullan picked up a yellow card in the 78th minute for a shove in the back, and Martinez was issued a yellow for jumping over the back of Mullan in a reckless manner.
Then in the 92nd minute, Houston had its final chance. But Nate Jaqua's shot went right after he got a cross from Chris Wondolowski on the right, and the teams were left to share the points.
Jeremy Rakes is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
