HOUSTON - After a second consecutive 1-0 loss, Houston Dynamo weren't panicking, but they were frustrated.
Sunday night, Dynamo lost 1-0 to the Chicago Fire at Robertson Stadium. A week ago, they lost 1-0 to the New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium; this week's loss also means they've scored just one goal in three home games this year.
After slow starts the first three games, Houston had a quick start against Chicago, but none of their five shots in the first half found the back of the net, and the drought continued in the second half as the Orange couldn't find the back of the net on any of their four shots in the second half.
Houston had their chances, though. Dynamo finished with three shots on goal and two more that hit the crossbar.
"I don't know if we could have done anything else but score a goal," said defender Eddie Robinson. "It's frustrating when you go out there and play that well and come up with nothing. Mostly, we were in their end and pressuring them and to still lose 1-0, that is as frustrating as it gets."
The defense did its job holding Chicago to only two shots in the first half, but the Fire were able to get 10 more shots in the second. Chris Rolfe found the back of the net in the 60th minute past a diving Pat Onstad, but that was the only one of five shots on goal to find the back of the net. Onstad finished with four saves.
"I thought we played pretty well," Onstad said. "We shut them down pretty well, especially in the first half. In the second half, we started to get a little stretched. I thought Wade (Barrett) did everything he could on the goal. Overall, I thought we played really well.
"We looked a lot better. If it were another game, we might put three in the net."
One of Dynamo's many chances came in the 51st minute, but what looked like a Dynamo goal was disallowed because of a foul on Ryan Cochrane. Chicago goalkeeper Matt Pickens punched down a Brad Davis corner kick, but it went off C.J. Brown and in.
In the 26th minute, Dynamo saw another great chance go awry as Brian Ching's header went off the crossbar. Then in the second half, just before Rolfe put the Fire into the lead, Brad Davis saw a long-range effort come off the face of the woodwork.
Dwayne De Rosario also tried to answer Rolfe's goal with several shots on goal, but Pickens stopped him every time.
"We created more chances, and we pressed them pretty often, but we couldn't find the back of the net," De Rosario said. "We're going to go home and analyze the tape and continue to work at it. This is our job, and we're going to continue to work at it."
Dynamo suffered a second consecutive tough loss, but they know they played well. Davis said he thought Dynamo were the better team on the night, and he thought they dominated the match for 75 to 80 minutes.
The result, however, was the same. That was the most disheartening.
"Anytime you lose, it's disappointing," said head coach Dominic Kinnear. "If you play well and lose, like we did tonight, or you play poorly and lose, the reaction is still the same. Our guys are a proud team and I am a proud coach of this team, so maybe this hurts a little bit more. I think we came out with the right attitude and played the right way, we just have to take advantage of some of those good plays."
Jeremy Rakes is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
