The Houston Dynamo pride themselves as the hardest working team in MLS. On Saturday night at Robertson Stadium, their hard work once again paid dividends as a Kei Kamara goal and a solid team defensive effort gave the Dynamo a much-needed three points with a 1-0 victory against FC Dallas.
"We've said all year, we've been playing good soccer even in games we tied or lost," said defender Bobby Boswell. "We played good team defense and it's our claim to fame, how hard we work."
The effort is finally paying off for Houston. The Dynamo have now gone 403 minutes without conceding a goal, the longest shutout streak in MLS in 2009. Coach Dominic Kinnear is pleased, not with just his defenders, but the defensive effort of his entire team.
"It's funny you talk about defense, but I think Brian (Ching) and Kei and Ricardo (Clark) were really good tonight clogging up lanes," said Kinnear. "Stuart (Holden), Brian (Mullan) and Brad (Davis) did great defensively also."
With the defense holding FC Dallas scoreless, Houston just needed one goal to win, and that goal came from Holden and Kamara in the 57th minute. Davis fed Holden down the left flank and Holden got to the ball just before it went out. Holden then sent a perfect cross to Kamara who headed in the goal.
For Kamara it was his first goal in MLS this year, something he has been trying to remedy.
"Yeah, I was on a mission," Kamara said. "I've been looking for one for a while. I saw Stuart go down the line, it didn't look like he was going to get to it, but he looked up and I knew he was going to cross it ... great service, all I had to do is touch it."
With the visitors coming in after having lost two consecutive games, the Dynamo might have thought that the first goal would have taken the fight out of Dallas. However, Dallas played some of their best soccer after giving up the goal, coming close twice in the final 20 minutes.
In the 76th minute, a David Ferreira cross found Kenny Cooper in front of goal but Cooper's shot went wide. In stoppage time, a Steve Purdy header was saved by Pat Onstad just before the final whistle blew.
"We thought if we got the first goal, we would be in good shape, but it's funny -- the first goal gave them some energy and vigor," Kinnear said. "They made it hard for us there in the end, they got some good possession."
"It is a rivalry and we won tonight 1-0," defender Richard Mulrooney said. "That was a tough game and I thought we had the better of the play in the first half. Give them credit for fighting back, but we held on and we move on to the next one against New York."
With the victory, the Dynamo won their third consecutive game and FC Dallas lost their third in a row. Houston has now moved into a tie for third place in the Western Conference with the Colorado Rapids. FC Dallas stands in last place in MLS and continued its streak of having never won at Robertson Stadium.
"It's a great win for us," Kinnear said. "I think the guys are happy and confident with the way things is going now."
Dwain Capodice is a contributor to MLSnet.com
