Coming into Saturday's road game with FC Dallas, Houston had to like their chances for an offensive explosion against their in-state rivals, especially considering that FCD would field three new defensive starters against Dynamo. But in the end, the game failed to ever develop any kind of flow and finished in a scoreless draw.
"There wasn't a lot of energy out there today on both sides," said Houston head coach Dominic Kinnear. "It was a little bit of a slow chess match. We had a couple of chances and they had a couple of chances. 'Keepers held their ground and so did the defenses. So, I think 0-0 was correct."
FC Dallas outshot Dynamo 14-8 on the day, but each team got only three efforts on target.
"It was pretty even," Dynamo midfielder Brad Davis said. "It was one of those games where you knew it wasn't going to be a pretty day of soccer. There were a lot of stoppages and things like that going on.
"It was going to be one of those games where you're on the road and trying to grind it out. For us, we're going for three points, like we do in every game. But when worse comes to worse, it's not so bad to take a point on the road, go home and look forward to the game against New York on Thursday night."
Of FCD's revamped back line of David Wagenfuhr on the left, Bobby Rhine on the right with Clarence Goodson and Aaron Pitchkolan in the middle, only Goodson was a regular starter for the Hoops rearguard. For the most part, they contained the Dynamo strikers, holding Brian Ching and Joseph Ngwenya to just one shot apiece.
"Those guys have come in and played," Kinnear said. "Wagenfuhr has been in this league for a while and so has Bobby Rhine. Pitchkolan is a big guy and physical. He did a good job of holding onto guys when he was around them."
But Ching wasn't quite as complimentary.
"These guys used this (having three defensive starters out) as an excuse to sit back, draw and counterattack," he said. "It's just funny. They give us a lot of respect and that's a good thing. I guess they think that we're a better team.
"It was one of those physical games where they're bumping you, pushing you and trying to get in your head," he added. "It's tough sometimes when the ref looks the other way. I guess that happened both ways. It was a physical game but good to come out of here with (a point)."
The two sides accounted for 41 fouls and four yellow cards. Houston center back Eddie Robinson was booked in the 23rd, giving him five yellows on the season, meaning he will have to sit out the Thursday night match with the Red Bulls.
"Yes (there were a lot of fouls)," Ching said. "Maybe that was their strategy coming in here -- to break up a lot of plays. Whatever their gameplan was, it worked."
Saturday's match being so physical was a big factor in the lack of flow in the game.
"It stopped quite a lot," Kinnear said. "I don't know if it was good for the players because they never got tired. The game never developed any flow. There were a lot of stops during the game that broke it up too much."
While the FCD back line did a great job of limiting the Dynamo attack, Houston did an equally good job of limiting the chances for Hoops midfielder Juan Toja, who has four goals so far this season.
"He's the best player on that team. He's also one of the best players in the league and we have a lot of respect for him. When you respect someone like that, you have to watch them," said Houston midfielder Richard Mulrooney. "He's got four goals in this league and will get more. Thank God it wasn't against us today. If you shut him down, a lot of their offense goes through him and I think we did a good job of that today."
Houston was without starting goalkeeper Pat Onstad, who twisted his back during pregame warmups. Zach Wells performed well in his place, and since he moved in between the posts with Onstad on national team duty, Dynamo are undefeated. Onstad's status will be further evaluated once the team returns to Houston.
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
