It was a formula that resulted in frustration -- one part Tony Meola brilliance, two parts a rare Dwayne De Rosario off night -- and Houston Dynamo walked out of Giants Stadium disappointed in a 1-1 tie with the New York Red Bulls.
"I'm disappointed because I missed some good chances," De Rosario said. "I'm disappointed because we should've come out with three points but I'm pleased by the spirit we showed on the field."
Dynamo fired 14 shots at Meola, but only four were on target. Five were from De Rosario, including two in the opening five minutes of the second half. But Meola made a stunning kick save in the 46th minute and De Rosario's attempt four minutes later was wide of the net. There was another chance in the 63rd minute, but that ball also missed the target.
"Tony made some very good saves and then we missed the target when we should have hit the target," Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear said. "Chances-wise we definitely had that, run of play, we definitely had that. ... If Dwayne plays the game tomorrow night, he probably gets one or two [goals]."
Jean Philippe Peguero gave the Red Bulls the lead in the second minute, tying the club record for their fastest goal. Pat Onstad came off his line and got a piece of Youri Djorkaeff's service from the right side. But Peguero collided with Onstad, the ball bounced loose and the Haitian tapped in his fifth goal of the year.
"I said what happened and Pat said, 'I made a mistake, I should have come out and did something,'" Kinnear said. "It's a ball played into a dangerous area and Eddie [Robinson] is going for it, Peguero's going for it and Pat comes out and the ball just falls for them."
The Red Bulls, who set an MLS record with their seventh tie in their opening 10 games, nearly doubled their edge a minute later but Onstad stopped Peguero from point-blank range.
In his first game back at Giants Stadium since being claimed by San Jose on Jan. 14, 2005, former MetroStars first round draft pick Ricardo Clark leveled in the 19th minute. He received the ball from Ronald Cerritos and his shot from 35 yards out deflected off Mark Lisi and beat Tony Meola inside the near post.
"It came to me in a spot where I was going to shoot it every time and I think that ball was on a lot in the first half," said Clark, who played in front of a large group of extended family. "I shot it and I thought it was on frame but luckily it got a deflection, the wind was with me and it went in."
Dynamo wanted to utilize their strength on the wings with Brad Davis and Brian Mullan against New York's 3-5-2 formation. But there was a hiccup in that game plan when Davis exited in the 35th minute with a left quadriceps strain. He was replaced by Kevin Goldthwaite. Davis was out two weeks ago in New England with a left knee sprain and was instrumental in both Dynamo goals against the Galaxy a week ago.
But Dynamo, which played their third consecutive draw on the road, didn't stop controlling the play, they didn't stop getting scoring chances. They just stopped scoring.
"We're doing enough to win games on the road, we really are," Kinnear said. "We're creating chances, we're holding the ball, we're not just holding on to try and get a win and clearing the ball. I think we're playing very well on the road and it just shows the confidence we have in each other."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
