In what continues to build as one of the best rivalries in Major League Soccer, the Houston Dynamo took care of business at home and beat the San Jose Earthquakes 3-1 Saturday night at Robertson Stadium.
The Orange shrugged off a comment by Nick Garcia directed at Kei Kamara, and instead chose to focus on the ultimate goal of coming out of the match with three points. Kamara, along with Brian Ching and Craig Waibel, gave the Dynamo a three-goal lead by early in the second half.
Houston was desperate for a win, especially after the team saw two points slip away in the closing minutes of a 1-1 tie at New York the week before.
There is a history between Kamara and Garcia, dating to when Kamara played in San Jose a year ago. Kamara earned red cards in both a preseason game this year and during their last meeting at Robertson Stadium, leaving the Dynamo shorthanded.
Earlier this week, Garcia extended the rivalry, calling Kamara a "mental midget" in the quote to the San Jose Mercury News. The Dynamo said all the right things ahead of this weekend's match, and Kamara got the ultimate revenge when he scored what proved to be the game-winning goal just 12 minutes into the match.
The Dynamo, who extended their unbeaten streak to six (4-0-2) and avenged a 3-2 loss at Buck Shaw Stadium earlier this season. That match remains the only highlight for the Quakes this year as the team failed to win for the seventh consecutive match. Houston improved to 3-0-2 at home and send the lowly Earthquakes to 0-4 outside their friendly confines.
Ching gave the Dynamo a quick 1-0 lead just four minutes into the match when he sent a header past Joe Cannon (four saves) on Houston's first shot of the game. With a beautifully placed free kick, Brad Davis picked up the first of two assists and extended his team record to five consecutive games with a helper.
San Jose responded with two scoring chances in the sixth, eighth and 11th minutes. After Arturo Alvarez missed wide right, a header by Cam Weaver floated dangerous close to the Dynamo net. Pat Onstad (three saves) read the play and made his first save of the match and looked even better three minutes later when he stopped a point-blank shot by Ryan Johnson.
Less than a minute later, the Dynamo earned their first corner kick of the game and again it was Davis with a perfect ball to Kamara who headed the pass by Cannon and into the net.
Down 2-0, the Earthquakes kept firing and Alvarez and nearly cut Houston's lead to 2-1 when he made a great play from out front and 20 yards away.
Onstad was sharp in the opening 45-plus minutes and helped Houston take a 3-0 lead in the 51st minute when Waibel scored his first goal since netting two against Mexico's Pumas in the 2008 CONCACAF Champions League.
Another Davis corner kick led the goal. This time the ball was headed clear by a Quakes defender to the top of the box. Dynamo defender Geoff Cameron headed the ball back in and Waibel was alone in front of Joe Cannon, where he quickly turned and fired home.
Less than two minutes after the celebration behind the San Jose net, the Quakes got that goal back when Ryan Johnson broke up the shutout with his fourth goal of the campaign. Cam Weaver was credited with the lone assist on the play that gave San Jose just its second road goal in 2009.
Johnson had another great chance in the 60th minute, but he was waved offside just before his shot went into the net.
The Dynamo remain at home next weekend when they take on Toronto FC, while the Earthquakes continue their road trip, traveling to face the Columbus Crew on Wednesday night.
Andrew J. Ferraro is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
