The Colorado Rapids finally put an end to their 10-game winless streak, getting a goal through fortunate circumstances and surviving a very tense final 13 minutes, hanging on to defeat Houston Dynamo 1-0 on Saturday evening at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
The game's only goal was an own goal, scored when Dwayne De Rosario headed a corner kick past his own goalkeeper in the 60th minute. The Rapids ended the game a man down after Ugo Ihemelu was sent off in the 77th minute, but Colorado held on for their first win since May 26 while handing Houston a second successive defeat after Dynamo had an 11-game league unbeaten streak.
Looking to put an end to the long winless run, the Rapids came out hungry, controlling the pace for most of the first half. Most of the action over the opening 45 minutes was in the middle third, but Colorado created more opportunities early on, keeping the pressure on the Dynamo defense.
However, neither goalkeeper was tested until Houston right back Craig Waibel sent in a long shot. Waibel's effort took Rapids 'keeper Bouna Coundoul fully into the goal and off his feet as he caught it, but he was able to keep the ball from crossing the line.
The Rapids ended the first half still applying pressure on Dynamo, and Terry Cooke made a beautiful cross from the center, finding Jovan Kirovski, who unloaded a cannon of a shot, but couldn't get it past Houston 'keeper Pat Onstad.
The Rapids caught a break in the 60th minute, when Onstad kicked away a pass from a defender and inadvertently sent the ball over the goal line. Cooke's first corner was knocked over the goal line again, but his second kick arced directly in front of the goal, where De Rosario got a head on it, but headed it past Onstad to put the Rapids into the lead.
Pablo Mastroeni had another excellent opportunity in the 64th minute for Colorado, taking possession of the ball right of the goal and making a sharp centering pass, but there were no teammates there to complete the play.
The tightly played match brought its share of tension, and yellow cards were issued to Houston's Joseph Ngwenya and Colorado's Mike Petke, who hit the ground in a tangle and came up scrapping in the 71st minute.
The tension went up a notch in the 77th minute, when Ngwenya went down with Ihemelu on his heels. Referee Terry Vaughn immediately showed Ihemelu a red card for denying a clear scoring chance, prompting Rapids head coach Fernando Clavijo to substitute defender Facundo Erpen for forward Jacob Peterson as the Rapids went a man down.
Playing with the one-man advantage and the one-goal deficit, Houston became much more aggressive in the final minutes, peppering Coundoul with shots and but unable to get anything past him. De Rosario had one final chance in the 85th minute, attempting a bicycle kick in front of the goal to no avail.
Coundoul ended the night with six saves as Dynamo outshot Colorado 10-4. But he stopped everything he had to which allowed Colorado to take advantage of their one lucky break, and with it celebration of a victory for the first time in almost three months.
Owen Perkins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
