The top two defenses in MLS squared off Wednesday night at Robertson Stadium. To no surprise it was a defensive struggle as the Houston Dynamo held off Chivas USA for a 1-0 victory.
Chivas USA head coach Preki threw caution to the wind with his starting lineup. With Mariano Trujillo out through yellow card suspension, Claudio Suarez recovering from his first action on the season, Justin Braun injured, and both Jonathan Bornstein and Sacha Kljestan away with national team duty, Preki rolled the dice. The Chivas USA coach chose to start Jim Curtin at right back and used Michael Lahoud almost as a third forward alongside Maykel Galindo and Atiba Harris.
The Dynamo countered by giving their first start to newly acquired forward Cam Weaver. Brian Mullan also reclaimed his starting position on the right of midfield, now fully healthy.
The two teams showed early why they rank first and second in goals conceded in MLS on the year. With both teams playing high lines, the field became very condensed during the first 30 minutes and there was little space for either team in the run of play.
However, both teams seemed to run out of gas a little as the game really opened up after the half-hour mark, with runs from deep in the midfield seeming to become more successful.
Preki's gamble on the wings almost hurt the stingy Dynamo defense. In the 32nd minute, Paulo Nagamura fed Harris beautifully down the wing and in on goal Harris went. However, Dynamo defender Geoff Cameron was quick to slide over and snuff out the attack.
Just when it looked like both teams were going to go leave the field scoreless at the half, Chivas USA gave up a deflating goal in stoppage time. It was vintage Route One football for Houston that did in Chivas USA.
A goal kick by Pat Onstad left Shavar Thomas matched up against Weaver on a header. Weaver outleaped Thomas and deftly touched the ball into the path of Stuart Holden making a run from midfield. Holden's run wasn't tracked and Carey Talley couldn't slide over in time to cover. Holden was left only to round 'keeper Zach Thornton and Chivas USA trailed 1-0 at the half.
Houston came out firing on all cylinders in the second half and Chivas USA looked to have been holding on for dear life. In the 49th minute, Weaver looked to have extended Houston's lead off a header, but the linesman ruled the new acquisition offside.
Then two chances for Houston came in a matter of one minute. In the 64th minute, Mullan got behind Jorge Flores and as Thornton came out, the Dynamo winger ripped a shot that Thornton did well to block with his leg. The ensuing corner found Craig Waibel at the far post and his header went straight to Bobby Boswell, but his header from point-blank range was cleared off the line by Nagamura.
Houston's failure to extend their lead almost cost them. Galindo almost got the equalizer in the 82nd minute. With the ball right outside the box, Galindo ripped a shot that seemed to catch the Dynamo defense napping. Dynamo 'keeper Pat Onstad though was up to the task and made a good diving save to preserve the 1-0 score for Houston.
For Chivas, Robertson Stadium continues to be a black hole as they have yet to win in Houston with five losses and two ties in seven regular season matches, and now have not scored a goal there in 645 minutes in all competitions.
The good news for Chivas is they don't have to play here again during the regular season. The bad news for Chivas is they dropped a valuable three points against the team most likely to be fighting them for top seed in the Western Conference.
Dwain Capodice is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
