Playing down a man for more than 50 minutes, the Crew came away from Saturday match at Houston with a 1-1 draw. Former Dynamo striker Alejandro Moreno scored the Crew's goal in the 17th minute, off an assist from Guillermo Barros Schelotto. The assist was Schelotto's ninth of the year, moving him into a tie for first in the league in that category.
On the goal, Schelotto penetrated the Dynamo defense off the dribble on the left side of the penalty box, then dished the ball to Moreno, who was standing near the penalty spot. Moreno's one-touch attempt slid low and to the left of Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad to find the back of the net. The goal moved Moreno into a tie with Schelotto for the team lead in goals scored with four.
Schelotto had nearly scored himself in the 10th minute, launching a left-footed rocket from the top of the box that hit the crossbar and bounced back down into the penalty area before being cleared by the Houston defense.
Columbus went a man down in the 38th minute when defender Marcos Gonzalez received his second yellow card of the match for an awkward challenge on Dynamo forward Joseph Ngwenya, in which he made very little contact. Gonzalez's ejection came only five minutes after he received his first yellow card of the evening, for a tackle from behind on Ngwenya.
Columbus dominated the first half before Gonzalez's ejection, keeping the pressure on the Houston defense and attempting four shots to Houston's one before the 38th minute. After Gonzalez was removed from the match, Houston launched an intense attack, keeping the ball in the Crew's end of the field and firing three shots in just under nine minutes of play before the intermission.
Play in the second half was intense and at times chippy, with the Columbus defense keeping the Houston attack at bay with tough tackling and persistence when trying to move Dynamo players off of the ball.
Houston leveled the score in the 79th minute, when Ngwenya dropped midfielder Ned Grabavoy with a shoulder and got free in the left side of the Columbus defense to launch a sharply angled shot towards the front post. Columbus goalkeeper Will Hesmer made a diving save, but couldn't quite corral the hard-struck shot. Dynamo forward Nate Jaqua ran onto the rebound and punched the ball into the open net for the score.
The Dynamo attack kept up the pressure in the last minutes of the match, but the Crew defense was up to the task, turning back Houston's attempts despite being down a man.
Danny O'Rourke, who was moved to the back line after starting in his customary central midfield role, did a good job of keeping the Crew defense organized, and made a couple of outstanding plays himself. In the 87th minute, O'Rourke slid in front of Jaqua to block what looked like it would be an open shot from the top of the box. Houston midfielder Dwayne De Rosario launched a desperate attempt from the rebound of O'Rourke's block that sailed well over the crossbar for Houston's last shot of the game.
The Crew will return to Columbus to face the Colorado Rapids on Sunday, Sept. 2, at 3 p.m. ET.
