While most homecomings are festive occasions, Thursday's get-together between the San Jose Earthquakes and the Houston Dynamo was always going to have an element of the bittersweet, given the latter club's painful departure from San Jose in 2005. But the Quakes duo of Kei Kamara and Ivan Guerrero found a way to erase at least some of those painful memories, as each player scored in the second half to give San Jose a 2-1 win against the city's former tenants.
The result not only snapped San Jose's winless streak at four games, but it was also their first home win of the season. The Dynamo's Brian Ching scored a late consolation goal, but it wasn't enough to stop Houston's modest winning streak from ending at two games.
Houston's lineup was unchanged for the third match in a row, while San Jose, in a bid to get their league-worst offense on track, gave forward Ryan Johnson just his second career MLS start in place of Joe Vide. Defender Nick Garcia also returned to the lineup at the expense of James Riley.
The first 15 minutes were devoid of any sustained attacks, as the ball spent more time in the air than it did on the ground. But when the game did settle down, it was San Jose who created the better openings with Johnson in the middle of the Quakes' best attacks.
Kamara latched on to Guerrero's cross in the 16th minute and touched the ball back to Ramiro Corrales. But his subsequent shot was palmed away by Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad.
Houston defender Bobby Boswell gifted the Quakes an opportunity in the 25th minute, stumbling over the ball and allowing Johnson to steal. The San Jose forward attempted to curl the ball high around Onstad from 20 yards, but the Dynamo 'keeper touched the effort over the bar.
San Jose kept the pressure on, and came painfully close to scoring in the 33rd minute. Johnson once again found space on the left wing, but his perfectly weighted cross was nodded goalward by Kamara then deflected off the post by Guerrero.
Johnson then had another chance a minute later, but his thunderous shot struck Houston's Dwayne De Rosario in the face and went out for a corner kick.
After being on the back foot for most of the half, Houston staged a mini-revival late. Stuart Holden was released by a Ching flick-on in the 37th minute, but his weak header was easily saved by Cannon. Ching found space again two minutes later, but his header from a Brian Mullan cross was hit straight at the Quakes 'keeper.
The second half began with Houston seeing more of the ball. A Franco Caraccio layoff near the top of the box found Holden, but his low shot was snared by Cannon.
The Dynamo continued to have the better of play in the second half, but suffered a blow in the 62nd minute when defender Eddie Robinson was forced off with an abdominal injury.
Robinson was replaced by Patrick Ianni, and the move was to have dire consequences for Houston just five minutes later. A deflected cross from Ronnie O'Brien was flicked over his head by Ned Grabavoy, finding Kamara deep in the box. His quick shot on the turn not only beat Ianni, but Onstad as well, giving the Quakes a 1-0 lead.
Houston nearly hit straight back, with substitute Kyle Brown latching onto a long ball and seemingly having a clear look at goal. But a desperate tackle from San Jose defender Ryan Cochrane took the sting out of Brown's shot, allowing Cannon to make the save.
Any hopes of a Dynamo comeback were dashed in the 81st minute. On the counter, Guerrero played Johnson through on the right side of the box, and while Onstad did well to parry his blast, Guerrero was on hand to slot home the rebound, doubling San Jose's lead.
The goal proved invaluable as Ching volleyed home a cross from substitute Brad Davis in the 88th minute. And nerves were put further on edge when the Hawaiian's deflected header from an Ianni cross went narrowly wide two minutes into stoppage time. But San Jose was able to see out the remainder of the match, much to the delight of the home crowd.
Jeff Carlisle is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
