The Houston Dynamo and Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica battled to a scoreless draw Wednesday night at Robertson Stadium in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions' Cup semifinal.
The second leg of the semifinal will be next Wednesday in Costa Rica, with Saprissa holding the advantage as they bid to win their second continental club championship in four years.
Houston got off to a good start as Brian Ching found himself open on the right side of the area in the second minute, but his shot went just outside the right post. Saprissa's first shot came in the sixth minute, but Ronald Gomez's attempt from the left side was stopped by Pat Onstad.
The Dynamo remained on the attack and in the 10th minute, Ricardo Clark let one loose from outside the area, but it went well to the right. In the 17th minute, Eddie Robinson had a shot on the left side of the goal from a corner kick, but a Saprissa defender deflected it out of bounds.
A minute later, Clark let one go from just outside the area, but Saprissa's Keilor Navas was able to deny it again. Franco Caraccio followed a minute later with another good chance from the area, but again Navas was there to make the save.
In the 25th minute, Andres Nunez took Saprissa's second shot on goal, but his attempt from the left of the area was stopped by a diving Onstad. Nunez tried again in the 30th minute after faking a Dynamo defender to the left and going to the right, but his shot from the upper left corner of the box was batted away by Onstad. The ensuing corner kick resulted in a backheeled shot by Jairo Arrieta was picked up by Onstad.
The Dynamo came back down the field with Dwayne De Rosario taking two shots in the box -- one that was blocked by a Saprissa defender back to him, and the other corralled by Navas, who had come off his line trying to stop the Dynamo midfielder.
Saprissa continued to attack with Nunez letting another one go in the 33rd minute that Onstad again had to make a save on. Eight minutes later, Arrieta let loose a shot from the right side of the box, but it rolled to a waiting Onstad.
In the 43rd minute, De Rosario took got a forward pass near midfield and took it down on a 1-on-3 break, but his bullet went high. In stoppage time at the end of the half, Houston had one chance where Caraccio fed Corey Ashe on the left side of the box, but Ashe's one-timer hit outside the left post.
Clark took the first shot of the second half in the 54th minute when he took a pass from Ashe outside the top of the area and let one fly that went wide right. In the 65th minute, Caraccio got his foot on a loose ball in front of the net, but it went just over the crossbar. A minute later, Richard Mulrooney gave Caraccio a lead pass on the right, but Navas came off his line and made a sliding stop to deny Caraccio.
Caraccio continued to attack in the 68th minute, taking one from midfield all the way to the endline before letting loose a shot that Navas knocked out. Eddie Robinson got his head on the ensuing corner, but it went just over the crossbar.
In the 79th minute, Ashe sent a cross into the middle of the box that Ching headed wide left. In the 83rd minute, Geoff Cameron took a header off a free kick that was batted out, and Clark let loose a one-timer on the rebound that just went wide of the post.
Saprissa finally got a few chances in the 85th minute, but two corner kicks were blocked by the Dynamo defense with the second one snuffed out by Onstad. In the 89th minute, Michael Barrantes saw his free kick from 35 yards out on the right side easily handled by Onstad.
The Dynamo nearly made their home-field advantage stand up in stoppage time when Ching took a cross in the middle of the area and sent a diving header goalward that went just high of the crossbar. After numerous chances for the Dynamo in the box ended in nothing, Saprissa's last chance saw Michael Barrantes' shot blocked by Onstad.
Jeremy Rakes is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
