Knocking off a defending champion is almost always a tough task. Unfortunately, FC Dallas learned that the hard way Friday night, falling to reigning MLS Cup champions Houston Dynamo 4-1 in extra time in the second leg of the Western Conference Semifinals at Robertson Stadium.
Dynamo won the series 4-2 on aggregate, scoring four goals over the final quarter of the game and the half-hour of extra time after Carlos Ruiz had doubled the FCD lead with a 14th-minute goal. It's the sixth consecutive trip to the MLS Cup Playoffs without a victory in the first round for FC Dallas.
Brian Ching scored two goals for Dynamo, his 72nd-minute goal coming five minutes after Stuart Holden had scored and tying the series on aggregate. Ching then gave Houston the lead in the 97th minute before Brad Davis sealed the victory three minutes later. FC Dallas played a man down from the early minutes of the second half when Arturo Alvarez was sent off.
Houston came sprinting out of the gates early. A Craig Waibel throw-in from 20 yards out landed at the feet of Ryan Cochrane, who lofted a shot that skied off the crossbar. Dallas goalkeeper Dario Sala's momentum had carried him back into the goal, allowing Dwayne De Rosario to put ball in net from close range. However, De Rosario was ruled offside and the goal disallowed.
However, Sala did not come away unscathed, as he was knocked over by a member of the Orange and went down for nearly two minutes before rising to his feet. But whatever ill effects Sala felt were not readily apparent, as, in the ninth minute, he ranged to his left to stop a swift bouncer from Brian Mullan, who fired from just inside the left side of the box.
Just two minutes later, a cross from Mullan deflected to De Rosario, whose line drive from the top of the box careened off the crossbar. But De Rosario wasn't finished, stopping his rebound and blasting a low shot to the left of Sala. The Argentinean made his second impressive save of the match, laying out and snagging the ball before it could find the net.
Dallas soon went on the attack and quickly found more success than their counterparts. In the 14th minute, Bobby Rhine aired the ball downfield, finding the head of Kenny Cooper. The forward, who had only two assists on the year, redirected the ball to his right perfectly onto the foot of Ruiz, whose bullet ricocheted off the bottom of the crossbar and past leaping Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad. The goal put the Hoops in the lead and was Ruiz' 16th career playoff goal in 17 games, extending his MLS record for most postseason goals.
The action soon turned from goals to reprimands. In the 23rd minute Sala came out due to a right knee injury and was replaced by Ray Burse. But Sala did not leave the field promptly enough, resulting in the first yellow card of the match. Houston soon also received its first yellow of the match when, in the 29th minute, Richard Mulrooney laid a hard hit on Alvarez, which sent the Houston native spinning to the ground.
Unfortunately, the Hoops were unable to do anything with the consequent direct kick, and soon found themselves on the defensive again. In the 31st minute, Ching gathered a roller on the right side of the goal area and sent it screaming toward Burse. But the new 'keeper had positioned himself perfectly, and grabbed the ball straight into his chest.
Denilson, in the starting lineup for the second leg, then saw yellow in 39th minute for a rough hit on De Rosario nearly 30 yards away from the FC Dallas goal. But the Hoops defense maintained its strong play and prevented Houston from scoring.
In first-half stoppage time, Alex Yi shoved De Rosario to the ground a yard outside the 18, but the Dallas wall held fast. However, a handball from Adrian Serioux placed the ball only feet outside the left side of the box. Davis let loose a rocket, but Burse saw through the bodies in front of him to punch the shot out of harm's way.
The game changed in just the second minute after the restart as Alvarez was given a red card and ejected for violent conduct after attempting to corral a ball near the Dallas corner.
Now with a man advantage and two goals down, Houston head coach Dominic Kinnear replaced a defender in Waibel with Holden in the 48th minute and Joseph Ngwenya for Nate Jaqua in the 61st. FC Dallas head coach Steve Morrow followed suit, replacing Denilson with Pablo Richetti in the 50th minute and bringing in Dominic Oduro for Serioux, who had seen yellow just minutes prior.
The Orange finally got one past Burse in the 67th minute. Cochrane sent a floater toward the net which found the head of Ching. The Hawaiian headed the ball toward the middle of the box, and Holden sent a brisk bouncer past the diving Burse.
Then just five minutes later, Houston took the lead with a blast off the foot of Ching. After receiving the ball from De Rosario, Ching found himself with an open shot 10 yards from goal, and drove a bullet just under the crossbar to tie the series on aggregate.
Neither team was able to grab the lead for the remainder of regulation, even after six minutes of stoppage time. Houston had the best chance at putting the game away when De Rosario sent a low cross at the foot of Holden, but Burse dove forward to stop the deflection.
The home team continued the pressure into overtime. In the 95th minute the Hoops evaded disaster when a strong shot from the top left corner of the Dallas box by Davis rebounded off the crossbar.
Unfortunately, FCD's luck would not last long. Only two minutes later, a Mullan pass from inside the left side of the box squirted into the pack and was deflected to Ngwenya. The forward then nudged the ball a couple feet toward the middle, where Ching slammed it into the back of the net.
The Orange then added an insurance goal in the 100th minute after Drew Moor got a yellow card to for a hard hit on Ngwenya. The ball was placed 30 yards out on the right side, and Davis placed the direct kick perfectly between the crossbar and the left post, beating a lunging Bruse.
However, the Hoops did not fold. Rhine continued his impressive play, shooting a rocket from the top of the box only to see it Onstad dive to his right and punch it away with one hand.
As time wound down in the final minute, Moor was ejected after receiving his second yellow card, and seconds later, the match ended with Houston once again getting better of their in-state rivals at Robertson Stadium.
Casey Michel is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
