who had been booked after just four minutes -- was sent off by Paul Ward for dissent in showing displeasure after Robbie Findley went down trying to chase down the rebound of a point-blank Pat Onstad save.
• Here's Kreis's team (4-2-3-1): Nick Rimando - Robbie Russell (Chris Wingert 83), Nat Borchers, Jamison Olave, Tony Beltran (Pablo Campos 86) - Kyle Beckerman, Will Johnson - Clint Mathis, Javier Morales, Fabian Espindola (Yura Movsisyan 65) - Robbie Findley. Substitutes Not Used: Rachid El Khalifi, Ned Grabavoy, Chris Seitz, Andy Williams
• Here's Kinnear's team ( (4-2-3-1): Pat Onstad - Andrew Hainault, Bobby Boswell, Ryan Cochrane (Craig Waibel 90), Wade Barrett - Stuart Holden, Geoff Cameron - Corey Ashe (Brian Mullan 68), Brad Davis (Mike Chabala 83), Kei Kamara - Brian Ching. Substitutes Not Used: Ade Akinbiyi, Danny Cruz, Tally Hall, Dominic Oduro
HOUSTON DYNAMO
The Honston Dynamo lost for the second consecutive match, this time in controversial circumstances, falling 2-1 to the Columbus Crew on Sunday afternoon on a late penalty kick. The Dynamo still lead the Western Conference with 40 points from 25 matches, still two points ahead of the LA Galaxy, now three points behind the Crew in the race for the Supporters' Shield.
LAST MATCH
• The Crew had seen their five-game league winning streak and seven-game unbeaten streak come to an end in their last outing, but still had not lost in 20 league matches in Columbus. The Dynamo had seen their three-game undefeated run come to end in their last league match.
• The Crew took the lead in the 34th minute. From a short corner, Gino Padula served the ball from the left flank and while a Dynamo defender got a head to it, it still fell right to Frankie Hejduk at the far post, and he nodded it home for his first goal of 2009.
• But Houston pulled level in the 80th minute. Geoff Cameron raced forward on the right, putting a centering pass into the area that Brian Ching was able to flick on toward goal, and Cam Weaver was able to poke it home out of the air for his fourth goal on the campaign.
• Yet as the game raced into stoppage time, Alejandro Moreno was adjudged to have been held back by Cameron as the Venezuelan tried to get on the end of a ball in the Dynamo area, and referee Jorge Gonzalez pointed to the spot. Eddie Gaven sent Pat Onstad the wrong way to convert for the game-winner, his fifth goal on the season.
• Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear made three changes to the team that lost 1-0 to the Colorado Rapids on Aug. 30. Mike Chabala came in at left back for Wade Barrett, Corey Ashe replaced the suspended Brad Davis on the left of midfield, and Luis Angel Landin made his first MLS start, in place of Kei Kamara.
• Here's Kinnear's team (4-3-1-2): Pat Onstad - Andrew Hainault (Craig Waibel 46), Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron, Mike Chabala - Brian Mullan, Ricardo Clark, Corey Ashe (Cam Weaver 76) - Stuart Holden - Luis Angel Landin (Dominic Oduro 58), Brian Ching. Substitutes Not Used: Wade Barrett, Ryan Cochrane, Tally Hall, Erik Ustruck
TEAM NEWS
• The late penalty overturned a late comeback by the Dynamo and left the team venting its frustration following the match.
• "We were the better team. We created more chances and fight hard and then to have it in the 90th minute given to the other team is extremely disappointing and frustrating," said forward Brian Ching. "These points all matter. For it, in our eyes, to be unfairly taken away from you, it's not hard to have that emotion bubble over. You see guys frustrated. You put so much energy into the game and come away with nothing when you deserve so much more than that."
• The Dynamo have lost two in a row and are 2-5-3 over the past 10 games. Their lead over second-place Los Angeles in the Western Conference remains at two points.
• "We're fighting for points. We've got 40 points but we want to get ahead of the group. It's important to create a gap between the teams behind us," defender Geoff Cameron said. "It's a disappointment we lost three points but we have to look ahead to the next game coming at us. We have four games left. We're going to try and get as many points as we can. If we can take that last 45 minutes of play and use that next weekend we'll be cruising."
• The Dynamo made a roster freeze deadline deal, acquiring forward Abe Thompson from the Kansas City Wizards in exchange for Kei Kamara. Kamara was obtained last year from San Jose; he scored seven goals in 32 league games with the Orange. Thompson came to Kansas City from FC Dallas last September. He has made eight appearances this season without a goal, seven in a substitute role, his last on Aug. 1. His only start came in the second week of the season.
• On Wednesday, the Dynamo went down to a 2-0 defeat at Mexico's Pachuca CF in the third game of Group A play in the CONCACAF Champions League. Edgar Benitez (26) and Paul Aguilar (74) scored for Pachuca; the Dynamo went a man down just before halftime when Dominic Oduro was shown a second yellow card.
• Here's Kinnear's team: Tally Hall, Ryan Cochrane, Bobby Boswell, Craig Waibel, Erik Ustruck (Brian Mullan 64), John Michael Hayden, Geoff Cameron, Brad Davis (Mike Chabala 74), Wade Barrett, Brian Ching (Cam Weaver 46), Dominic Oduro
• "Tuesday's important for us; it's huge," Kinnear said regarding the Dynamo's next game in the competition, at home against group leader Arabe Unido of Panama. "We have to win that game and get maximum points out of it and that would get us a little bit closer to them. We've got three games left, two at home and one on the road, but this next one is probably the key to staying on track to advance."
REAL SALT LAKE
Real Salt Lake returned home and extended their unbeaten streak to three games, coming back for a 1-1 draw with the Chicago Fire on Saturday evening at Rio Tinto Stadium. Real have 34 points from 25 matches on the year, in sixth place in the Western Conference, having now fallen out of a tie for the final spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
LAST MATCH
• The Fire were coming off a 1-0 home loss to D.C. United two weeks earlier, while Real were coming back-to-back wins, both by shutout, against Chivas USA and Kansas City.
• The Fire took the lead two minutes before the halftime break. Marco Pappa looped a soft ball into the area and, between a pair of defenders, Chris Rolfe brought it down and turned home a wonderful shot for his sixth goal on the season.
• But Real equalized in the 72nd minute. Andy Williams gathered the ball by the halfway stripe and launched a long ball into the Chicago penalty area where Jamison Olave had gone bursting forward, picking the ball out of the area with a side-foot volley for his third goal.
• Real coach Jason Kreis made four changes to the team that defeated the Kansas City Wizards 1-0 on Aug. 29. Tony Beltran returned to the back four for Robbie Russell, Will Johnson came into the midfield for Ned Grababoy, and with Kyle Beckerman suspended and Raphael Cox also going to the substitutes' bench, Robbie Findley and Fabian Espindola came into the wide attacking roles.
• Here's Kreis's team (4-2-3-1): Nick Rimando - Chris Wingert, Nat Borchers, Jamison Olave, Tony Beltran - Clint Mathis (Jean Alexandre 15 / Javier Morales 62), Will Johnson - Robbie Findley, Andy Williams, Fabian Espindola - Pablo Campos (Yura Movsisyan 46). Substitutes Not Used: Raphael Cox, Rachid El Khalifi, Robbie Russell, Chris Seitz
TEAM NEWS
• Returning home off of a pair of victories, Real Salt Lake were looking to extend that run - especially with three of the next four games on the road, beginning with the trip to Houston.
• "It's do or die at this point on the road," defender Tony Beltran said. "Although we've struggled a little bit at times on the road this season, I think we've in the last game at Kansas City that we can do it. We know can do it, so we'll go out there and give it our best. We got nothing to lose."
• It was the third time in the last five home matches RSL had come back to snatch at least a point with late goals. The Claret-and-Cobalt trailed FC Dallas by two goals on July 24 but came back to score the winner in the 88th minute, while on July 3 they scored the equalizer vs. San Jose in the 90th minute.
• "We fought back," goalkeeper Nick Rimando said. "It shows the character on the team. We know the importance of these games. We went down when we fell asleep at the end of the half and we came to back to fight and get a point. And a point right now is a lot because of how close it is (in the standings)."
• RSL was forced into an early change when Clint Mathis suffered a sprained left ankle.
• "We need the ball," RSL coach Jason Kreis said. "We have good players out there and we got to have possession of the ball for long stretches of time. We didn't do that after Clint left the game. We never really established a rhythm or got enough possession in the first half."
• There was bright spots late as Javier Morales and Yura Movsisyan came on as substitutes, Morales after missing the last two matches and Movsisyan after sitting out four of the last five.
• "I thought both of them looked good tonight. They changed the game for us a little bit and they are very good players, so when you can bring those kind of players off the bench you know they are going make a difference and they're going change the game -- and they did," Kreis said.
