Playing down a man for more than 50 minutes, the Columbus Crew came away from Saturday night's match against Houston Dynamo with a 1-1 tie. The tie leaves the door open for the Colorado Rapids to pull even with the Crew for eighth place in the MLS standings and the final spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Columbus continues to have trouble on the road this season, going winless in their past five matches away from Columbus Crew Stadium and notching a 1-5-5 record as the visiting team in MLS play. With a win against the LA Galaxy on Sunday night, the Rapids would match Columbus for the final place in the postseason with a couple of months to go.
Former Dynamo striker Alejandro Moreno scored the lone Crew goal in the 17th minute. Midfielder Guillermo Barros 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 assist was Schelotto's team-leading ninth of the year, and Moreno's goal moved him into a tie with Schelotto for the team lead in goals scored with four.
Schelotto had nearly scored in the 10th minute, launching a shot 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. Gonzalez bit on Dynamo forward Joseph Ngwenya's fake towards the sideline, turning his body as Ngwenya cut back the other way. As Ngwenya went past, Gonzalez reached out behind himself with his leg, catching Ngwenya on the thigh and sending the attacker sprawling to the ground.
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 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. The Houston fans called for fouls at several points during the period, but referee Abbey Okulaja thought the play was clean and kept the match going.
Houston leveled the score in the 79th minute, when Ngwenya 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. The Columbus defense, anchored by midfielder Danny O'Rourke, turned back Houston's attempts despite being down a man.
O'Rourke 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. Dynamo will next face the Kansas City Wizards in Houston on Saturday, Sept. 1 at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Lucas Ogden-Davis is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
