after a rare Houston defensive misplay. Chris Lancos sent the ball forward, and as Wade Barrett tried to play it, a poor touch allowed Findley to latch onto it and race in at goal. With a shot from the right side of the area, Findley found the inside of the left netting past Onstad's dive and gave Real the eventual game-winner.
• Here's Kreis's team (4-4-2): Nick Rimando - Jean-Martial Kipre (Chris Lancos 79), Ritchie Kotschau, Eddie Pope, Chris Wingert - Chris Brown (Jamie Watson 66), Kyle Beckerman, Carey Talley, Nathan Sturgis - Robbie Findley, Kyle Brown (Atiba Harris 79). Substitutes Not Used: Nikolas Besagno, Kenny Cutler, Christian Jimenez, Chris Seitz
• Here's Kinnear's team (4-4-2): Pat Onstad - Craig Waibel (Corey Ashe 70), Ryan Cochrane, Eddie Robinson, Wade Barrett - Brian Mullan (Patrick Ianni 90), Ricardo Clark, Richard Mulrooney, Stuart Holden (Nate Jaqua 46) - Joseph Ngwenya, Brian Ching. Substitutes Not Used: Mike Chabala, Paul Dalglish, Zach Wells, Chris Wondolowski
HOUSTON DYNAMO
Houston Dynamo were forced to come from behind to grab a draw for the second successive match, getting a Joseph Ngwenya midway through the second half for a 1-1 tie with the Kansas City Wizards last Saturday evening at Robertson Stadium. Dynamo still lead the Western Conference with 39 points from 24 matches, three ahead of both Chivas USA and FC Dallas while trailing both New England Revolution and D.C. United by three points in the MLS overall table.
LAST MATCH
• Houston Dynamo had just one win in their last six games as they tried to hang on to the leadership of the Western Conference, while the Kansas City Wizards were completing a week-long road trip that had started with losses in Chicago and Salt Lake.
• In first-half stoppage time, Eddie Johnson grabbed his share of the leadership of the MLS Golden Boot with a quality finish. Michael Harrington picked off a pass and sprung Scott Sealy on the left side of the area. Sealy drove in a low cross where Johnson flashed in in front of his marker and turned home a first-time shot past Pat Onstad for his 14th goal.
• But Dynamo were able to take advantage of the travel-weary Wizards in the 69th minute. De Rosario picked up the ball in his own half and went racing forward on a nearly 50-yard run. Joseph Ngwenya timed his run along the back line to perfection, and De Rosario slotted a pass into the area for Ngwenya to drive home for the leveller.
• Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear made one change to the team that got a late 1-1 draw against a 10-man Columbus Crew the weekend before. With Nate Jaqua suspended for yellow card accumulation, Eddie Robinson came back into central defense as Kinnear reshuffled his lines completely.
• Here's Kinnear's team (4-4-2): Pat Onstad - Ryan Cochrane, Patrick Ianni, Eddie Robinson, Wade Barrett - Brian Mullan, Ricardo Clark, Richard Mulrooney, Corey Ashe - Dwayne De Rosario, Joseph Ngwenya (Chris Wondolowski 88). Substitutes Not Used: Mike Chabala, Eric Ebert, Nick Hatzke, John Michael Hayden, Craig Waibel, Zach Wells
• "The guys showed good attitude coming out in the second half. I think we frustrated ourselves in the first half," Kinnear said. "The second half we played a little more relaxed. We shared the ball a little better. We were a little more crisp, and I believe that's what led to the goal. We kind of made it hard for ourselves with some silly mistakes."
TEAM NEWS
• Kinnear was forced to really shake up his team with the glut of injuries. In addition to missing Jaqua through suspension, Brian Ching missed his second consecutive game due to injury. Craig Waibel was on the substitution list, but he was not going to play, Kinnear said.
• "To be honest, looking at our squad and where we're at, I tried to put the best team on the field," Kinnear said. "Ryan (Cochrane) has played right back before, just not much. I wanted to make sure we were solid defensively, and I thought we were. The goal came from a bad giveaway. Defensively, I thought we were solid.
• "To keep Richard (Mulrooney) on the field, it was important to get him into the midfield with (Ricardo Clark) and push Rico up. The only thing that I didn't like doing was to take Dwayne out of the midfield and put him up front," Kinnear continued. "It wasn't ideal. We spoke about that, and I told him it was only temporary. I looked at how I thought I could get the best team on the field, and that was the reason for the moves."
• While Dynamo have gone unbeaten in the first three games of their four-game homestand, they have not been pleased with draws in the last two.
• "We look at it as two points lost and a point won," Joseph Ngwenya said. "We wanted to come out and win. We weren't fortunate enough to get the first goal. At the end of the day, we have to keep it in perspective and get three points against Salt Lake."
• Now, after the RSL game, Dynamo have four of their final five games away from Robertson Stadium. They are also all against Western Conference opposition, and two against the teams in direct competition for the two automatic playoff spots from the division (FC Dallas and Chivas USA).
• "At this stage in the season, we need to get our performances going in the right direction. Right now I don't know what way we're going," said Onstad. Added Patrick Ianni said: "Everyone is disappointed. It's been four or five games here in the MLS where we have had a bit of a struggle getting points. Obviously, we've had injuries. I think the team as a whole expects to do better as a whole."
REAL SALT LAKE
Real Salt Lake won consecutive games for the first time in 2007 in dramatic fashion, coming back from a goal down with two goals midway in the second half for a 2-1 win at the Los Angeles Galaxy last Saturday at The Home Depot Center. Real now have 18 points from 21 matches, four more than the Galaxy (who have two games in hand), still 10 points out of the final playoff spot.
LAST MATCH
• The Galaxy were coming off their midweek penalty kick shootout loss in the SuperLiga final, looking for a first league win in eight games. Real Salt Lake were coming off just their third win on the year, a midweek win against Kansas City, aiming for back-to-back wins for the first time all season.
• It took the Galaxy just six minutes to open the scoring. Peter Vagenas and Landon Donovan played a neat one-two on the right and Donovan swung in a cross to the spot. Alan Gordon rose up to nod down the service past RSL 'keeper Nick Rimando.
• The Galaxy held the lead into the final half hour, then things started unraveling. First, on the counter, Andy Williams sent Robbie Findley in behind the Galaxy defense and he finished well against the club that had dealt him away in July for a 67th-minute equalizer.
• Four minutes later the Galaxy were trailing. Alecko Eskandarian put a free kick on target and Steve Cronin made the save, but Eddie Pope was there to knock home the rebound for the eventual game-winner.
• The Galaxy finished the game a man down when Troy Roberts was sent off with 12 minutes to play after being booked twice in the span of eight minutes.
• RSL head coach Jason Kreis made no changes to the team that defeated the Kansas City Wizards 3-1 at midweek at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
• Here's Kreis's team (4-2-3-1): Nick Rimando - Jean-Martial Kipre, Matias Mantilla, Eddie Pope, Ritchie Kotschau - Kyle Beckerman, Carey Talley - Chris Brown (Robbie Findley 58), Javier Morales (Andy Williams 63), Fabian Espindola (Chris Wingert 75) - Alecko Eskandarian. Substitutes Not Used: Nikolas Besagno, Atiba Harris, Chris Lancos, Chris Seitz
• "We're very, very happy for the ties and very, very proud of what they've put in to everything. Even before the results have come, we have been very happy with what the guys have done for us," Kreis said. "We feel like the guys have put in a lot of work and have deserved for a very long time more than what they gotten, so for the last two games to finally get some results and something tangible for the group to get on hold on to. In a lot of ways, we now know there are results at the end of all that work."
TEAM NEWS
• After beating Kansas City 3-1 at home on Wednesday, the club longed to notch a second victory, a feat that seemed in doubt after the Galaxy finished the first half with a 1-0 lead. "We wanted to win so badly. You could see it in everyone's faces," Eddie Pope said. "We talked about it at halftime, our attitude -- 'how bad do you really want to win?' We were able to really dig in deep the second half."
• Pope's game-winner was his first goal since 2005. It was also the first time since Aug. 16, 2006 that RSL had won a game away from Rice-Eccles Stadium, and the first time since Aug. 19, 2006 that RSL had walked away with consecutive league victories.
• "That was great. (Eskandarian) took the freekick and I figured he would hit it the same place as the other one, so a lot of favoring that side," Pope said. "It was a good feeling. More than anything else, we were able to show a lot of character to come back and win. Two wins in a row - we are trying to build on that."
• The entire match changed with Rimando was able to turn aside Donovan's penalty kick early in the second half. It was a shocking miss from Donovan, especially after missing in the SuperLiga final shootout against Pachuca.
• "I knew that if he made it the game was over. We've been having trouble coming back from one (goal), let alone two. I just stayed on my line as long as I could and guessed the right way," Rimando said. "Whenever a goalkeeper makes a big save and a team's not doing well -- we weren't playing the best -- I think that gave us a little energy, a little boost. We came back, we scored and got another one and that's something we haven't done all year."
• The addition of Findley seemed to lift the club even more. The Galaxy's first selection in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft, Findley joined RSL along with Nathan Sturgis in June in a trade for Chris Klein. Findley entered the game in the 59th minute and made an immediate impact, scoring the equalizer in the 67th minute and drawing the foul that led to the free kick on the game-winner.
• "I'm extremely happy for Robbie because I know how emotional it is to get traded and how emotional it is to come back to the team that's traded you for the first time," Kreis said. "It's huge and it shows a lot of Robbie Findley's character. It's huge and he's got a bright future ahead of him."
• Findley said he had been pointing to the game since the trade - and it was even sweeter after being dropped from the lineup for the Kansas City game just three days earlier.
• "It was tough. I didn't play last game and I'd been starting since I was traded," Findley said. "I try not to let it get to me. I keep my head up and keep doing what I'm doing in practice, working hard and I told myself when I get the chance I'm going to do everything I can to be effective and dangerous."
