An early Nicolas Hernandez goal and some excellent goalkeeping from Joe Cannon were enough to propel the Colorado Rapids to a 1-0 home victory against the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night at Invesco Field at Mile High.
Hernandez scored his fifth goal of the season in the 35th minute and Cannon made several heroic late saves to propel the Rapids into sole possession of third place in the Western Conference, only three points behind Dynamo, who saw their unbeaten streak ended at 10 games.
Both teams were looking to establish a possession advantage early on. It was a change in tactics for the Rapids, who had in previous games relied on attacking down the wings. Both defenses were staunch as well early on, not allowing good scoring chances.
In fact, the first good scoring chance did not come until the 11th minute when Rapids defender Aitor Karanka took a 40-yard shot that went wide of the Dynamo goal.
The Rapids continued to attack, and some good passing between Terry Cooke and Kyle Beckerman led to a cross by Cooke that Thiago Martins headed over the goal.
Houston finally had a good look at goal in the 20th minute when Brad Davis was played through by Dwayne De Rosario, but his sliding shot from the goal area hit the side netting.
Davis had another chance in the 23rd minute as he received a cross wide open at the top of the box, but his volley went well over the bar.
The game swung to the Rapids again in the latter part of the first half, keyed by some good play from Colorado's midfielders. Beckerman showed some good individual skills, dribbling through the heart of the Houston defense, but his shot was blocked out for a corner which came to nothing.
The Rapids nearly struck again in the 34th minute, as Hernandez was barely outjumped for a Martins cross by Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad.
Hernandez and Martins made good on the resulting throw-in, however, combining on a give-and-go that left Hernandez open for the opportunity from the top right of the area. His hard shot kissed off the bottom of the post and spun into the net for his fifth goal of the season.
Onstad nearly got an assist in the 45th minute, as his long punt fell to Brian Ching all the way down the field in the Rapids area, but Ching's first touch failed him and the ball went out for a goal kick.
The Rapids looked to have added a second goal in stoppage time as Kelly Gray volleyed a corner into his own net, but referee Terry Vaughn had already called a foul against Martins away from the play.
Houston nearly tied it up in the 54th minute. A poor Rapids clearance fell to De Rosario, who looked to have a wide open chance on net from inside the six-yard box, but his first time shot went just wide of the net.
Davis played a wicked cross into the box in the 65th minute, but Cannon was able to reach it first to punch it out. The clearance fell to Ricardo Clark at the top of the box, but his volley was skied well over the goal.
Hernandez nearly added a second in the 67th minute. After receiving a flick from Mathis, he slalomed through several Dynamo defenders in the box, but could not quite work his way out of traffic, and his shot was blocked.
Houston kept attacking and nearly scored in the 69th minute. A bicycled cross from De Rosario found Ching's head, but his strike was wide of the goal.
Davis was extremely unlucky in the 70th minute not to score. Wide open on the wing, he received a pass from De Rosario and took two dribbles into the box before unleashing a hard shot. Cannon, who was charging out of his net, appeared to barely deflect the blast, which was enough to send the ball caroming off the upper left corner of the goal.
Second-half substitute Stuart Holden had a great chance for Houston in the 83rd minute, striking a long, dipping shot that just barely went over the bar.
Houston continued to get good chances as the game wound down. Alejandro Moreno took a hard shot on goal that Cannon had trouble clearing, but he was able to get to the rebound before Ching.
Cannon made two more game-saving plays in the 87th minute, stopping a hard shot and an on-target header, both by Moreno, one after the other.
Dynamo continued to pin Colorado back in stoppage time, as the Rapids were content to play defensively to protect their lead. Davis came close again with a long -range shot that was out of Cannon's reach but also went just over the bar.
The Rapids almost had a second goal in the waning moments, as Cooke and Hernandez combined well on the wing to send Mathis through free in the box, but just as he was going to shoot, Vaughn blew the whistle for the end of the game.
Geoffrey Urland is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
