Possession was key in the Houston Dynamo's game against the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday. When the Dynamo kept the Galaxy from finding space to maneuver, the match was in the visitors' favor. But when the hosts found room to move, the Galaxy picked apart the Dynamo.
In the end, neither team came out worse for the wear as they split the points in a 2-2 draw at The Home Depot Center.
"We played a good game. It's on the road. It's a tough game. You want to come out of here with a point. We're happy to, kind of, I guess," midfielder Brad Davis said. "Three points was our goal tonight and I think we had it in our hands a couple of times."
Davis scored his first goal of the season while Franco Caraccio added his second tally of the campaign. Both goals put the Dynamo ahead but neither goal would ultimately stand as Landon Donovan scored a pair of goals for the Galaxy.
Though the Dynamo surrendered two goals -- the third time in four games the club has allowed as least as many -- the backline and goalkeeper Tony Caig played well.
"You can't point to him on either of the two goals," Kinnear said of his goalkeeper.
Caig did well to make several clutch saves, including five in the second half. He parried several balls away from danger and his defense bailed him out a couple times when the Galaxy's shots beat Caig. Wade Barrett, Dwayne De Rosario and Patrick Ianni each cleared balls off the line.
Ultimately, though, it was the club's lack of possession that cost them the victory, Dynamo players and coaches said.
"We just couldn't hold onto the ball as well as in the first half and I think it kind of hurt us a little bit," Kinnear said. "We did a pretty good job in the first half. You make the team smaller and the field is nice and compact. I thought in the second half it did get stretched."
David Beckham and Donovan took advantage of the extra elbow room. Beckham swung in two balls that Donovan buried in the back of the net. Donovan leads the league with five goals while Beckham has assisted on three of them, including twice on Saturday.
The budding combination is already one of the league's most potent pairings.
"That's a pretty dangerous combination," Kinnear said. "(Beckham) has time to play the ball, let's be honest he can pass the ball pretty darn good and Landon's running off the ball is pretty good."
Davis opened the scoring in the 36th minute when he finished off a cross from Caraccio. Brian Ching ran onto it and tried to bury a shot but fanned on the attempt. Davis though was there to knock the ball past Galaxy goalkeeper Steve Cronin.
The lead stood until the 67th minute, but the buildup for the goal might have come minutes earlier. Donovan charged into the penalty area, racing after a ball. Caig stepped near the edge of the area to collect the ball while Ianni ran back to cover. Ianni flattened Donovan as the Galaxy forward neared Caig.
Donovan lay on the turf in apparent pain before standing and voicing his displeasure to both Ianni and the referee. But Ianni said the play was not malicious.
"I wanted to kind of protect my goalie," Ianni said. "He's running full sprint at our goalie and so I'm trying to get in front of him just to cut off his run and I gave him a little nudge. It's part of the game and obviously the ref didn't call anything. I think that fired him up a little bit."
Donovan beat Ianni to a Beckham cross and knocked a header into the back of the net. With Ianni laying on the turf, Donovan yelled at the fallen defender. Ianni stood and walked back into position for the restart as Donovan continued barking at him but did not receive a caution.
"I don't know," Ianni said when asked what Donovan said. "I heard him saying something."
Ianni said he was surprised at Donovan's taunts.
"I really don't know him that well," said Ianni, who nevertheless exchanged jerseys with Donovan after the match. "I don't know if that's out of character for him. I know he's a great competitor and it gets the best of you sometimes. That was unfortunate that was the way he treated the situation."
Caraccio scored what could have been his first MLS match-winner in the 79th minute when he finished off a sequence off a corner kick. Caraccio ripped his jersey off and waved it above his head after scoring his second MLS goal.
"Very happy but we didn't get the three points," Caraccio said. "It's soured a bit though since we didn't get the three points."
Donovan answered five minutes after Caraccio's tally when he tucked in a shot on the far post after Beckham fired a cross in from the right side.
Despite the missed opportunity to notch their first win of the season, Dynamo players cannot be faulted for their effort, Davis said.
"Guys worked hard," Davis said. "I know everybody put their heart and soul into the game ... but we were unable to finish it off."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
