After Saturday's 3-1 win against the Colorado Rapids, it seemed as if Houston Dynamo had put their early season offensive woes behind them. Toronto FC, however, had different plans.
Dynamo were held scoreless for the fourth time in six games this season after dropping a 1-0 decision to Toronto on Wednesday night at BMO Field. Houston has managed just one goal apart from their outburst in Colorado, and Wednesday's game was an exercise in frustration for the Dynamo offense.
Houston outshot Toronto 13-7 and controlled most of the game's offensive pace. Yet every time it seemed the Orange were on the verge of putting together a strong scoring chance, a Toronto player was there to clear the ball.
"Overall we attacked with determination tonight," said Houston coach Dominic Kinnear. "We had good chances tonight but they cleared it off the line and their 'keeper [Greg Sutton] made a couple of decent saves."
Dynamo ended up level with Toronto in actual shots on goal, each with five. Toronto's total was boosted by the fact that they had a pair of breakaway opportunities in the second half. With the score 1-0, Houston was pushing numbers forward looking for the tying goal.
Goalkeeper Pat Onstad was required to make a pair of big stops on those chances, but he didn't mind the extra work, or the team's defensive lapses.
"We pushed our outside backs forward a bit more than I liked, but we're chasing the game," Onstad said. "We've got to find some way to break them down and tie it up. When you do that you take risks at the back, but we didn't pay for it."
Kinnear felt the same way about his team's single-mindedness in the second half.
"When you're behind you've got to go," said the Houston coach. "If it ends up 2-0 or 3-0, what's the difference, you know? We tried to put more guys forward, put guys in the box, but that final pass was missing tonight."
It was a rainy and cold (45 degrees) night in Toronto, but Onstad dismissed the conditions as an excuse for the lack of scoring.
"I think the biggest thing was the wind," Onstad said. "When the turf gets wet it actually makes things better for us, makes things a little faster."
The loss was particularly frustrating for midfielder Dwayne De Rosario, a native of the Toronto suburb of Scarborough. De Rosario hoped to score his third goal of the season in front of his hometown crowd, but was held to three shots, none on goal.
De Rosario said he was satisfied with his team's effort, but said they lacked that final piece of the scoring puzzle.
"I thought we played the ball well," De Rosario said. "Our movement off the ball was great. When you don't finish your chances, you get buried quick."
Lessons to be learned for the struggling Houston attack.
Mark Polishuk is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
