After being dumped out of the playoffs last year by the New York Red Bulls, the Houston Dynamo came into Saturday night's match at Robertson Stadium looking for revenge. But after a tough physical match played mostly in the midfield, the match ended in a scoreless draw.
The tone of the match was set in the fourth minute. A Dynamo free kick was floated into the box where Dynamo striker Kei Kamara and Red Bulls goalkeeper Danny Cepero both went up for the ball. The resulting clash of heads had both players down for several minutes and eventually Cepero could not continue.
Cepero had to be replaced by third-string 'keeper Alec Dufty, signed to a developmental contract out of the University of Evansville just before the start of the season. Jon Conway, the starter for nearly the entirety of last season, was serving the final game of his league suspension Saturday. Cepero was later reported to have suffered a concussion.
Other than the physical play between the teams, there were few dangerous moments in the first half. Yellow cards shown to New York's Juan Pietravallo and Andrew Boyens and Houston's Brian Ching, along with 11 first-half fouls and numerous tussles all over the field, drained much of the attacking flair out of the game.
Of the chances there were, the Red Bulls proved the more dangerous side early on, playing with a five-man midfield. In the third minute, a Seth Stammler shot from about 20 yards out was saved easily by Pat Onstad. Onstad spilled the rebound, but the Red Bulls attackers were well offside.
In the 20th minute, Jorge Rojas also had a go from distance. Onstad got most of the ball, but it trickled behind him. The Dynamo defense and the stadium held its breath as it trickled just wide of the post.
The best chance in the first half came to Houston in the 36th minute. Kamara headed a beautiful pass into the path of Ching who looked offside. Dufty correctly came out to close down Ching, but the Hawaiian forward's chip wasn't the best as it sailed over the goal.
The drab first half only continued in the second half. Houston started to have some success overloading the right flank. Ching and Richard Mulrooney both sent in very dangerous passes from across the box. On both efforts, the passes narrowly missed their intended targets.
In the 64th minute, some controversy ensued as the Red Bulls were making a substitution. The card appeared to have already been provided to the fourth official for a substitution when Kevin Goldthwaite pulled up injured. As a result, the Red Bulls were forced to use their second and third substitutions as Albert Celades, making his MLS debut, and Mike Petke came on for Stammler and Goldthwaite, respectively.
Things continued from bad to worse in the 77th minute. Geoff Cameron went to make a clearance and Red Bulls defender Carlos Johnson's ensuing challenge was a hard one. Pushing ensued as Johnson was shown red for the challenge and Bobby Boswell was given a yellow for retaliating.
Houston continued to push for a goal, but it just wasn't to be. Corey Ashe sent the most dangerous ball in as it found the head of Ching, but his header was saved by Dufty.
In the 81st minute, the Dynamo's Mike Chabala made his MLS debut, but it was a short one. Chabala made a reckless challenge in stoppage time and was also shown an early exit by referee Hilario Grajeda. Shortly following Chabala's red, the final whistle blew and the match ended 0-0.
Dwain Capodice is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
