Despite an array of chances at goal, Houston Dynamo failed to come away with a win for the second consecutive week, falling 2-0 to D.C. United on Saturday night in the club's first-ever road match.
After opening the season with a scintillating 5-2 demolition of the Colorado Rapids, Dynamo have fallen on harder times. At RFK Stadium on Saturday, a first-half strike from United midfielder Joshua Gros in the 25th minute and a deflected free kick from midfielder Christian Gomez in the 71st minute proved to be the difference.
Even without suspended star midfielder Dwayne De Rosario, suspended after a late tackle that earned a red card in last week's agonizing last-minute loss to the Kansas City Wizards, Dynamo managed to create a plethora of opportunities on net.
Newcomer Adrian Serioux, active throughout the game, missed an open header early in the first half that initiated a long night of missed opportunities for Dynamo, including two near-miss headers by Ronald Cerritos as the final seconds wound down.
"I am disappointed," said coach Dominic Kinnear after the tough loss. "[However], we did get some good chances. We came out of the gate pretty well and we ended the game well. In between it was a little difficult."
Canadian international Serioux, new to MLS after playing last season for Millwall in the physical English Championship [the second division], echoed his coach's thoughts.
"If you could compare chances, we probably had the better chances, [even though] they had the better flow of play," he said.
Even high-scoring Brian Ching, leading MLS with five goals in his first three games while looking to play himself onto the 2006 U.S. World Cup roster, could not get the motor started for a suddenly stagnant offense.
"I think we had our chances, a couple headers at the end and maybe some better touches by me and the outcome would have been different. It's frustrating and we just have to do better," Ching said.
Kinnear would not place blame on De Rosario's absence.
"It is unfair to talk about players who are not here," he said.
Serioux, trying to fill in De Rosario's role as field general, says Dynamo "had a gap in the middle of the field today, despite me and Rico [Ricardo Clark] trying to cover."
Serioux had a number of splintering tackles letting his presence be known, but was unable to match the imagination usually supplied by the sublime De Rosario, who placed second behind New England's Taylor Twellman in last year's MLS MVP voting.
Without De Rosario in the middle of the field, Houston failed to control the dangerous United midfield who, with penetrating runs by Joshua Gros in the first half and Freddy Adu in the second, managed to earn free kicks near the penalty area that turned into goals for the Black-and-Red.
Despite the missed opportunities on net for Dynamo, perhaps the biggest worry for the new Houston club have been restarts. In the first half, Gros was able to latch onto a rebound in front of the net after Onstad had deflected a Moreno header from a Gomez dead ball. In the second half, another free kick from Gomez ended up sealing the victory, as his curling shot was deflected by the wall and past a helpless Onstad into the back of the net.
"We've allowed four set-piece goals [out of the six scored on us this year] in three games," said Onstad, the 2005 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.
Added Ching: "They punished us on set pieces today. We've given up a goal in each game on set pieces so far."
In addition to change in position -- Serioux played as a center back in Dynamo's first two matches -- the Canadian international said he is still adapting to a change in playing style, describing MLS as "more technical than in England. Over there it is more direct."
He said: "When I got that yellow card, it's like that all game in England."
JOrdan Brown is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
