At 7:26p.m. CDT, the Houston Dynamo kicked off their MLS 2013 season opener against DC United at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, Texas. True to form the Dynamo came through in the closing minutes of the match to post a sloppy 2-0 win. The game televised on NBS Sports Network was filled with one foul and one miscue after another. All in all thirty fouls marred the first clean sheet of the season for Dynamo keeper Tally Hall.
Both sides whiffed on first half scoring opportunities. The Dynamo’s Will Bruin and Giles Barnes were stopped at point blank range one on a header and the other on a powerful right footed blast. Houston captain Brad Davis failed to convert a penalty kick in the 39’ minute and three minutes later Chris Pontious, DC’s premier threat hit the cross bar on a set piece as the half drew to a scoreless draw.
The Dynamo offense as they did all of last season came alive late in the second half. In the 66’ Oscar Boniek-Garcia boomed one over the crossbar. Two minutes later a Bruin header went wide, then then Davis delivered a set piece from twenty five yards out on goal but came up empty. In the 77’ minute though the Dynamo gained a 1-0 advantage. Davis delivered the Houston’s fourth corner in the eleven minutes into the box where Ricardo Clark and veteran DC United defender James Riley got tangled up and Riley headed the ball past his keeper for an own goal and a lead for the Dynamo.
The Dynamo who scored 17 goals last season in the final fifteen minutes of play delivered again for the first time this season in the 89’. Warren Crevalle who subbed in for Davis just minutes earlier made a nifty baseline move to shake the DCU defender before sending perfectly timed pass to Clark who banged a left footer into the far corner for a 2-0 win.
The win give the Dynamo a hard fought three points and stretched the home unbeaten streak to 26, three back of Real Salt Lake’s MLS record 29 straight. The Dynamo own the best all-time home winning percentage (.700) in MLS history having lost just 17 games in the last seven seasons.
With just 48 hours till Tuesday night’s COCCACAF Champions league quarterfinal match with Mexico’s Santos Laguna, it will be a quick turnaround for the Dynamo. Tuesday’s kick-off is set for 7p.m. and will be televised on the Fox Soccer Network. With a win not only will the men in orange advance Champions League play but extend their home all competitions unbeaten streak to 31 games.
Houston returns to MLS action on Sunday March 13 at FC Dallas.
Next article; March 4 The story of the 2013 Dynamo
March 5 – Preview Dynamo v Santos Laguna
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