and not without a touch of irony.
• Houston took the lead in the 22nd minute on a goal from Joseph Ngwenya -- against the club that dealt him away a few weeks earlier. Brad Davis flighted in a corner from the left, and Ngwenya glancing header from the near post bounced off the inside of the back stick and into the goal for his third goal in as many games.
• But three minutes later Columbus pulled level through Alejandro Moreno -- who was dealt to the Crew straight up in the deal for Ngwenya. The goal was also nearly identical: Guillermo Barros Schelotto whipped in a cross from the right side of the area and Moreno rose up to head home for his goal of the season.
• The match was decided four minutes later through a cruel twist. Kelly Gray raced up the right flank and pulled back a rolling cross to the top of the six. Chad Marshall was racing toward his own goal ahead of a Houston attacker and deflected the ball inside the left post and into his own goal.
• Here's Schmid's team (4-2-3-1): Andy Gruenebaum - Tim Ward, Marcos Gonzalez, Chad Marshall, Rusty Pierce (Jason Garey 81), Ned Grabavoy, Duncan Oughton - Robbie Rogers, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Andy Herron (Eddie Gaven 72) - Alejandro Moreno. Substitutes Not Used: Bill Gaudette, Kei Kamara, Stefani Miglioranzi, Danny Szetela, Jed Zayner
• Here's Kinnear's team (4-1-3-2): Pat Onstad - Craig Waibel, Ryan Cochrane, Eddie Robinson (Patrick Ianni 62), Wade Barrett - Richard Mulrooney - Brian Mullan, Kelly Gray, Brad Davis (Corey Ashe 58) - Joseph Ngwenya, Chris Wondolowski (Stuart Holden 74). Substitutes Not Used: Mike Chabala, Nick Hatzke, John Michael Hayden, Zach Wells
HOUSTON DYNAMO
Houston Dynamo put an end to a four-game winless run in league play, regaining the lead in the Western Conference with a 1-0 victory against FC Dallas on Sunday evening at Robertson Stadium. Dynamo now have 37 points from 22 matches, leapfrogging FC Dallas by a single point, though they are still two points behind the New England Revolution in the race for the MLS Supporters' Shield.
LAST MATCH
• Back-to-back 1-0 losses to Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids had dropped Houston Dynamo into second place in the Western Conference, behind FC Dallas, which had a six-game unbeaten streak in league play.
• Yet the Orange maintained their home dominance over their in-state rivals. The game's lone goal came in the 42nd minute when Dwayne De Rosario sprung Brian Mullan with a ball down the right side, and he sent a low cross into the center of the goal area where Brian Ching ran on and sent a diving header past Ray Burse.
• FC Dallas has still never won in Houston in five matches in all competitions. With the win, Dynamo ensured "El Capitan", the Civil War-era cannon awarded to the winner of the season series, would remain in the Bayou City.
• Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear made two changes to the team that lost 1-0 to Colorado the weekend before, though they precipitated a number of positional shifts. Out of the team were Craig Waibel and the injured Ryan Cochrane, while Eddie Robinson and Brian Ching came back in. As a result, Nate Jaqua moved back into the midfield, while Richard Mulrooney went to right back.
• Here's Kinnear's team (4-3-1-2): Pat Onstad - Richard Mulrooney, Patrick Ianni, Eddie Robinson, Wade Barrett - Brian Mullan, Ricardo Clark, Nate Jaqua - Dwayne De Rosario - Brian Ching (Corey Ashe 71), Joseph Ngwenya (Chris Wondolowski 56). Substitutes Not Used: Mike Chabala, Eric Ebert, John Michael Hayden, Craig Waibel, Zach Wells
• "Good win. Tough win. You could see at the end of the game the guys were getting tired," Kinnear said. "They were a little leggy. We could have managed the game a little better at the end, but I like the way we played tonight. We kept on attacking and could have had another goal or two. Our defense came up big, especially Pat there at the end."
TEAM NEWS
• When Dynamo lost to Pachuca right at the start of the year, in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup, it was the beginning of a rough opening quarter where the Orange won just twice and tied once in their first eight games. With back-to-back league losses surrounding another loss to Pachuca - this one in SuperLiga - Dynamo weren't going to let it happen again.
• "The last two losses were tough, and I think the guys tonight showed that was a bit of fluke, and we are not going to let that happen again," Robinson said. "We have to be sharp for the playoffs because we know anything can happen because we have been on both sides. We have to let our bodies rest and not our minds."
• Said Richard Mulrooney: "A big win on all accounts -- mentally, physically and the atmosphere. Not saying we weren't confident and not saying we were down around here, but when we lost a couple league games and knocked out of SuperLiga when we played well, a win like this lifts things up on all levels."
• The Columbus game will round out a two-month stretch, in July and August, where Dynamo will have played 14 games in all competitions - nine in league play, one in the U.S. Open Cup and four in SuperLiga. But after the Crew match, Houston will have played 23 games - along with New England, the most of any club.
• "It's been a long two or three months, and now we are getting back into our habit of doing things with a game every week. The way to end it like this, was the way to end a long stretch," De Rosario said. "To play against a team that's an intrastate rivalry, a team that's in our division and a team that's ahead of us, to beat them and get back first place not only in the Western Conference but also in the league, we're glad by the way we played and the heart and determination."
• Kinnear could face an issue in central defense, where Ryan Cochrane is still slowed by an ankle injury, and now Eddie Robinson will be suspended for a second time this season for yellow card accumulation.
• "I think it was a ridiculous yellow," Robinson said. "It wasn't even a foul. Missing next week, it (stinks) that my teammates have to suffer because of that. I think we were a bit lucky tonight. We made some mistakes in the last 10 minutes. We had the ball three times in the corner, and we could have killed it for at least two minutes. Guys were busting their butts to try to get into the box, wasting energy that should have been used protecting the lead."
• Defender Craig Waibel, who was out with an abdominal strain, and Cochrane are expected to return. Joseph Ngwenya is doubtful with an ankle sprain suffered against FC Dallas, while Stuart Holden, Brad Davis and Paul Dalglish are all expected to be out for the next month with their long-term injuries.
• Despite the heavy load, two Dynamo players were called in for friendlies on the midweek international date. Brian Ching was called into the U.S. team in place of the injured Josh Wolff for the game against Sweden, and Pat Onstad was called into Canada's team for its match against Iceland. But Ching was not able to play when he suffered a calf strain in warm-ups. Onstad played the entire game in Canada's 1-1 draw in Iceland.
COLUMBUS CREW
The Columbus Crew lost for the second match running, falling 2-0 at home to D.C. United last Saturday evening at Crew Stadium. The Crew are still in fifth place in the Eastern Conference with 26 points from 21 matches, still hanging onto eighth place in the MLS overall table (and the final MLS Cup Playoffs spot), though their margin has been reduced to just two points.
LAST MATCH
• United were trying to shake off the disappointment of their SuperLiga defeat at midweek, though they had recorded shutout wins in back-to-back league games, while the Crew were trying to shed memories of their second loss in 10 games, a 3-2 loss to 10-man FC Dallas where they twice held leads.
• The Crew had the better of the play in a hard-fought conference battle, but United struck twice in an 11-minute span in the second half for the win. In the 52nd minute, Clyde Simms sent his header from a cross from the right off the base of the post. The rebound came back to him, but his second try was blocked. But it then rolled just to the edge of the box where Fred came steaming in and pounded home a wicked first-time blast.
• Then in the 63rd, Fred tried to filter through a pass for Luciano Emilio, but Crew defender Ezra Hendrickson was quickest to it. Yet as he dribbled toward his own goal, he turned in his own area -- right into the path of the chasing Emilio, and the Brazilian drove home a quick shot through the legs of Crew 'keeper Will Hesmer for his league-leading 14th goal of the season.
• Crew head coach Sigi Schmid made three changes to the team that lost 3-2 to FC Dallas the weekend before. Both center backs were out - Chad Marshall to a concussion and Marcos Gonzalez to a rest, and Ezra Hendrickson and Rusty Pierce came into central defense in their places. Ricardo Virtuoso also returned to the lineup, for Eddie Gaven.
• Here's Schmid's team (4-2-3-1): Will Hesmer - Frankie Hejduk, Ezra Hendrickson, Rusty Pierce, Stefani Miglioranzi (Jason Garey 76) - Danny O'Rourke, Danny Szetela (Duncan Oughton 62) - Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Ned Grabavoy, Ricardo Virtuoso (Eddie Gaven 60) - Alejandro Moreno. Substitutes Not Used: Marcos Gonzalez, Andy Gruenebaum, Andy Herron, Robbie Rogers
• "The bottom line is I thought the first half was OK and I thought the end of the first half, we started to dominate a little bit. But the first 10-15 minutes of the second half was not good enough," Schmid said.
TEAM NEWS
• It was the third loss in the last five games for the Crew, who are now seeing their hold on eighth place in the overall table (and the final spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs) loosen with each passing week. They are now just two points ahead of the Colorado Rapids after their back-to-back wins, and three ahead of the Chicago Fire, unbeaten in three.
• "It's a growing process for us. To be a good team, you've got to be consistent. You've got to be able to do it over 90 minutes," Schmid said. " ... We've been pretty consistent over the last 10-11 games and we need to just find that consistency and so tonight was not a shining moment for us, but there will be better moments ahead."
• Both coaches felt the Crew had the better of the opening 45 minutes, and after the two United goals, the Crew had the run of play. But it was that stretch that determined who would leave with the three points.
• "A good team has to be able to absorb a little bit when the other team dominates," said Schmid. "Every team is going to dominate, you have to be able to absorb and not get scored on in that period of time to not lose complete control of the game."
• The Crew have settled into their system with Ned Grabavoy pulling the strings as an attacking midfielder behind the lone spearhead of Alejandro Moreno, with Guillermo Barros Schelotto in one of the two wide attacking roles, changing from side-to-side as the game goes along.
• "I thought a guy like Ned had some very good moments in the game today. He is still a young player. If you look at the number of the games he has started and his years of experienced compared to a guy like Christian Gomez and Brian Carroll, they've played more games at this stage, and started more games," said Schmid.
• But the skid has started to plant a small seed of doubt in some quarters that the Crew will miss out on the postseason, which would be a third consecutive season of failing to reach the MLS Cup Playoffs after winning the Supporters' Shield in 2004.
• "At some point, it is either we are going to make the playoffs or are we not going to make the playoffs. If you look at our lineup, we have good players, we have capable players. We have players who have played on national teams," Grabavoy said. "I think that we are going to make it. I believe in the team and I believe that we are going to make the playoffs. We have had a lot of adversity throughout the season so far. At certain parts of the season, we have stepped up and got some wins. In this league, honestly, if you don't show up to play every game, you are going to get beat. There is too much parity in the league."
