October 5, 2008 11:30 PM
Houston, cream of MLS, prevails at Dick's
No other team visiting Dick's Sporting Goods Park during the MLS regular season has looked as good as Houston. The Dynamo showed it again in a 3-1 victory over the Rapids on Saturday.
Chicago? The Galaxy? D.C.? They all lost to the Rapids.
Real Salt Lake? Pfff, please.
New England? No, the Rapids were clearly the better team in the Revolution's sole appearance in Colorado, but the home side suffered from one untimely mistake.
Columbus? Again, the Rapids dominated. But they made two mistakes, and the Crew capitalized on both.
San Jose and Toronto both won in Commerce City, and Chivas did as well. The real culprit in those games may have been the Rapids' lack of motivation against those teams, something that they showed they can't afford.
But after Saturday's victory, the Dynamo stands at 1-0-1 at Dick's in 2008. And the defending MLS champions looked good doing it.
It should've been obvious early. The Dynamo began the game controlling the tempo and retaining possession, something few visiting teams have been able to do consistently against the Rapids.
But this Dynamo team isn't just any MLS team. It's the best. It's a team that has championship experience. The players play as a team, and the roster is loaded with talented starters and effective role players.
The team is well-coached, and it competes tirelessly, no matter how many different competitions it is involved in throughout the season.
Anything can happen in a one-game MLS championship final. But this Houston team is loaded for another title run.
FLOGGING: The last time the Rapids were at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, the home fans left with a bad taste in their mouth. The referee blew his whistle 4 minutes, 45 seconds into stoppage time, right as Conor Casey sailed a perfect cross to Colin Clark on the left wing. The Rapids midfielder would've been alone with New England goalkeeper Matt Reis,. But because the whistle blew and Clark never got to finish the play, Colorado had to settle for a 1-1 tie with the Revs. Fast-forward to the 23rd minute of play on Saturday: Clark got another chance to go toe-to-toe with a goalkeeper. Cory Gibbs sent a cracker of a pass (let me repeat: simply a cracker of a pass) to Clark, again patrolling the left wing. Clark's beatiful first touch (let me repeat: simply a beautiful first touch) put him alone behind the Houston defense and streaking in diagonally against Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad. As Clark approached, Onstad held his position at the middle of the goal mouth, giving Clark the choice of slotting the ball inside the near post, probably with the inside of his left foot, or dipping the ball around Onstad into the far post, either with the outside of his left foot (which would've been awkward) or the inside of his right foot. Clark chose to go to the far side of the net but used the inside of his left foot, which made the ball bend even farther to the outside, and his shot curled harmlessly away from goal. I hate to beat a dead horse, but if Clark wants to go far post, he must become more comfortable with that right foot. If not, shoot for the short side. It would've been a goal on Saturday. But the risk he runs, then, is that MLS defenses know he prefers that left exclusively and don't give any respect to the right.
AND IN THE 32ND MINUTE ... After receiving a ball behind the defense, Clark seemed to back and look for a cross to Omar Cummings, who was double-covered, instead of running toward goal and challenging Onstad. Could he have been thinking about his earlier miss?
ALSO IN THAT ODDLY INTERESTING 32ND MINUTE: After a Dynamo corner kick, Cummings had turned on the jets and was heading up the field. His speed and dribbling were opening up some turf ahead of him, and the situation became obvious as he wrong-footed Brad Davis, nearly screwing the Houston midfielder into the turf. But, realizing he was beaten, Davis reached out with his arm and dove for the ball. He not only made contact with the ball with his hand, but he stopped its progress and directed it back away from his defensive half of the field. As he got up, he had the right at his feet and led a charge on the Rapids' back third. The fans at Dick's Sporting Goods Park erupted. I.t was terrible. No yellow or red card was issued, stunningly, but the hand infraction wasn't even called. Now the game didn't turn on this play, and at the time the Rapids didn't even seem to dwell on it. But on a night when Conor Casey picks up a second yellow card on a call that could be described, at best, as questionable, Davis should've been shown yellow, maybe red.
WITH APOLOGIES TO DAVID LETTERMAN: Kimura, Kamara; Kamara, Kimura.
ANOTHER DISAPPOINTING CROWD: It's called a sweat shirt, folks. The even sell them at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
October 6, 2008
5:04 PM
JR writes:
A questionable call on Casey? It was awful! The referee was clearly out of position to see a foul, there was no foul, and the Dynamo player took a dive, holding his face when Casey never even got close to his face. The red card probably did not impact this game, but to lose Casey for a crucial game next week in LA based on this call is a travesty.