but had three consecutive draws.
The home side got off to a dream start. Brian Mullan went streaking down the right flank after taking over from Ching, and after getting to the byeline, sent a driven cross into the six-yard box where Ching raced to get on the end of it and stuck his head in bravely to stab home for his first goal since April 29.
But the Crew pulled level in the 66th minute. Joseph Ngwenya twisted the Dynamo defenders in knots in the Houston penalty area, eventually wriggling free before being pulled down by Eddie Robinson. Eddie Gaven converted from the spot and once again gave Columbus a share of the points.
Crew head coach Sigi Schmid made three changes to the team that played to a drab scoreless draw the Wednesday before with the New York Red Bulls. Chris Leitch came back into the defense for Marcos Gonzalez, while Kei Kamara came back into the attack, for Knox Cameron. Ricardo Virtuoso was given his first start in MLS, coming into the midfield as Tim Ward returned to the substitutes' bench.
Here's Schmid's team (4-4-2): Noah Palmer - Ezra Hendrickson, Ritchie Kotschau, Chad Marshall, Chris Leitch - Eddie Gaven, Brandon Moss, Jose Retiz (Leonard Bisaku 32), Ricardo Virtuoso (Tim Ward 75) - Joseph Ngwenya, Kei Kamara (Knox Cameron 67). [Substitutes Not Used: Ivan Becerra, Dominik Jakubek, Sebastian Rozental, Eric Vasquez]
"It's good to come down here to the heat and humidity of Houston and get a point against a team like that," Schmid said to The Columbus Dispatch. "We've had so many injuries and so much inexperience out there that it's been tough, but we've found a way to at least get points."
TEAM NEWS
With 10 players unavailable through injury, Gonzalez was out through personal reasons. Virtuoso made his first start in his second appearance - he came on for the final minute in the match against the Red Bulls.
"I have to be very proud of our team. We have had to play through so many injuries and we are a pretty inexperienced team, Schmid said. "When you look at our front six, the amount of MLS games that our team has it doesn't equal that amount of experience that the players from Houston have."
Ngwenya has settled into one of starting roles up top, while his strike partner is still being worked out. Kamara started for the second time in three games after going six games out of the first team; Knox Cameron, a 67th-minute substitute, had started in three of four coming into the Houston match.
"We have quite a bit of speed up front and we were able to use it much better in the second half," Schmid said. "Once you score a goal you obviously get confidence, so once we got the penalty and scored that we did a better job."
The Crew have still scored just three goals over their last six games. Still, over that time, they've come away with four draws.
"Our defense gave us a great chance to win the game and kept us in it the whole time," Ngwenya said. "... After we scored I think that the momentum switched to our side. I think we created more chances - we are just unfortunate not to be able to finish those opportunities."
But while the Crew haven't found the back of the net lately, their defense has been solid. They've allowed more than one goal in a game just twice since April 8 - a span of 14 matches - getting clean sheets in four.
"You are always a little worried how a team reacts to going down early, but after about 15 minutes or so I think we caught ourselves and got ourselves back into the game," Schmid said.
D.C. UNITED
D.C. United again came away with a professional result on the road, getting a first-half goal and making it stand up in a 1-0 victory against FC Dallas in a battle of the two conference leaders on July 4 at Pizza Hut Park. United won for the fourth game in a row, extended their unbeaten run to 11 games, and now have 38 points from 17 matches, 17 ahead of the New England Revolution in the East and 11 better than FC Dallas in the MLS overall table.
LAST MATCH
United came into the match riding a 10-game unbeaten streak despite having scored just a single goal in five of their last six games, Three of those were 1-0 victories. FC Dallas was returning home from a two-game road trip where they lost both games, shut out in each.
The game's only goal came on the end of a brilliant lightning counterattack. Jaime Moreno set off racing up the field, flanked by Freddy Adu on his right. After laying off the ball, Adu passed it back to Moreno just inside the box - but he sold a magical dummy, allowing the ball to roll between his legs. Christian Gomez was coming from behind and lashed a low shot inside the left-hand post for his sixth goal on the season and second in as many matches.
FC Dallas controlled the run of play, and outshot United by a wide margin -- especially in the second half as the visitors sat in to protect their lead. The Hoops nearly pulled level in the 69th minute, but Bobby Rhine's shot was cleared off the line by Facundo Erpen.
United boss Peter Nowak kept his lineup the same for the third consecutive match. Here's Nowak's team (3-4-2-1): Troy Perkins - Bryan Namoff, Bobby Boswell, Facundo Erpen - Joshua Gros, Brian Carroll, Clyde Simms (Ben Olsen 76), Devon McTavish (John Wilson 46) - Christian Gomez (Alecko Eskandarian 71), Freddy Adu - Jaime Moreno. [Substitutes Not Used: Jeff Carroll, Domenic Mediate, Santino Quaranta, Nick Rimando]
"It was a big win for us," Nowak said. "After having a couple of days off, it was difficult to find rhythm. But then we have a counter attack which changed the dynamic of this game. It's very important to get three points in a big game like this against Dallas on the road."
TEAM NEWS
United once again came away with a result despite feeling they didn't play well. "We didn't play our best game today but that's the sign of a good team. We played bad but were able to grind out a win," Adu said. "This was a grinder for us and it makes you feel so much better that we won and it was so difficult for us. That's what makes it sweet. It builds character on the team and we've been doing it all year. Hopefully we can keep it going."
Said Boswell: "We weren't precise from the get go and they got on us a little bit. We kind of bunkered in and held out own and got the counter attack goal. Second half we kind of changed our formation and they had some attacks and we had some counters. But overall we limited their chances and that's why we were able to come away with the win"
It was the fourth game running that Moreno, Adu and Gomez have been teamed as the United strike force. At least one of the three has been involved in eight of United's last nine goals.
"We've been doing it all season," Adu said. "We know each other very well. I actually started running before Jaime even got the ball. I have confidence in him that if he gets the ball in that situation, he will more often than not, win that battle." Said Nowak: "It was beautiful work from Jaime, Christian and Freddy. It was a great finish from Christian."
Ben Olsen and Alecko Eskandarian also made their first appearances after long absences. Olsen last appeared on April 29, his final match before joining the U.S. national team for the World Cup, while Eskandarian has not played since coming off at halftime on June 11 with a knee injury.
"It was great to have them back," Adu said. "Ben has been gone for a long time and he brings a lot of leadership. He brings that extra dimension of being a threat and a guy you always have to keep an eye on. Eskandarian came in and was dangerous. He got unlucky to not score that goal but was dangerous all game long."
Said Nowak: "It means a lot to have them back. The guys that played for Benny and Alecko have done a great job. Of course now that they are back it's not right to take those guys off the field and change our level of play. I think the competition is always important and I know that Benny and Alecko want to win the job back. So right now we have to monitor everyone and pick the best 11 and if we need to rest some guys we will do it"
