The Kansas City Wizards ended their week-long, three-game road trip of the greater West with a single point, playing to a 1-1 draw with Houston Dynamo on Saturday night at Robertson Stadium.
Kansas City's record away from Arrowhead Stadium is now 3-5-4, compared to 6-4-2 when playing at home. Since the New York Red Bulls defeated the Chicago Fire earlier in the evening, the Wizards are treading water in the standings, remaining in fourth place in the Eastern Conference yet still on target to make the playoffs with the seventh spot in the overall MLS standings.
Kansas City forward Eddie Johnson put the Wizards ahead late in the first half with a volley in the 45th minute. The play began with Wizards defender Michael Harrington playing the ball forward on the left side to forward Scott Sealy. Sealy took the ball on the run and sent a low cross in front of the Dynamo defense to Johnson, whose first-time shot from only a few yards out found the unprotected far side of the net.
The goal puts Johnson in the pole position for the 2007 MLS Golden Boot, tied for Luciano Emilio of D.C. United and Juan Pablo Angel of the New York Red Bulls with 14 goals on the season. Johnson also accounted for four of Kansas City's five shots on goal in the match.
Dynamo pulled even with a goal from forward Joseph Ngwenya in the 69th minute. Houston midfielder Dwayne De Rosario brought the ball up the center of the field on a nearly 60-yard run, drawing three of Kansas City's four defenders forward to confront him while defender Nick Garcia stayed back marking Ngwenya. De Rosario fed the ball forward to Ngwenya, who was running laterally from left to right. Ngwenya found enough separation from Garcia to launch a right-footed shot just inside the right post for the score.
After losses in Chicago and Salt Lake City to begin the road trip, the Wizards came out quickly, with Johnson getting a good chance after just two minutes. But Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad was equal to the task.
The match was hotly contested early, beginning in the 27th minute when Houston forward Joseph Ngwenya received a yellow card for protesting a non-call by referee Ramon Hernandez. Ngwenya felt that Garcia had fouled him inside the penalty area.
Two minutes later, Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad received a yellow card for a hard tackle on Ngwenya just outside the penalty area. Three minutes after that, Houston midfielder Richard Mulrooney received a yellow card for a slide from behind on Kansas City midfielder Kurt Morsink.
Kansas City goalkeeper Kevin Hartman did his part, making two fine saves on Dynamo midfielder Ricardo Clark on either side of halftime, once just before Johnson put the Wizards into the lead, then just before Ngwenya was able to pull Houston even.
The animosity continued into the second half, with a fight almost breaking out in the 46th minute after Sealy fouled Houston defender Ryan Cochrane at the sideline, sending Cochrane sprawling into the sideboards. The charge was possibly in retaliation for a foul that Cochrane had committed on Sealy during the previous play.
As Hernandez whistled the foul, Houston defender Ryan Cochrane sprinted up to Sealy appeared to shove him. Sealy pushed back, and all players on the field converged on the scuffle. When the dust settled, Hernandez issued yellow card cautions to Morsink and Johnson. No cards were issued to Sealy or Robinson.
Over the course of the match, the Kansas City defense allowed a total of 10 corner kicks to Houston. The Wizards notched only four corner kicks in the contest. Despite the disparity in corners, the other offensive numbers were fairly balanced between the sides, with the Wizards notching nine shots to Houston's 11 and five shots on goal to Houston's four.
The Wizards nearly had one great chance to steal the victory after Dynamo tied the score, when Johnson was running free behind the Houston defense, nearly in alone on goal. But Houston left back Wade Barrett came racing across to deflect the ball away just as the U.S. international was preparing to shoot right at the top of the area.
The Wizards will have a two-week break before returning to action at home against the Columbus Crew on Sat., Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. CT. Dynamo will next face Real Salt Lake in Houston on Sept. 8 at 7:30 p.m. CT.
Lucas Ogden-Davis is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
