Dynamo leads Western Conference after win

Bolstered by a dominating offense in Sunday’s game against the Chicago Fire, Houston Dynamo prepares to take on the Kansas City Wizards this Sunday at Robertson Stadium.

Even though the number of goals Dynamo scored in the 2-1 triumph wasn’t indicative of its offensive presence, Houston kept up the pressure and actually could have scored at least two more goals before a very appreciative audience of 22,554. It was the seventh largest crowd in the three-year Dynamo history to see the home team at Robertson.

All three goals were scored in the first half, with the Fire lighting up the scoreboard first with 4:49 gone in the game when Chicago took advantage of a fallen Dynamo defender as Cuahtemoc Blanco slipped a deft crossing pass to fellow forward Brian McBride, who put the ball past Houston goalie Pat Onstad from eight yards out.

But Dynamo’s resilience prevailed and it didn’t take them long to answer.

Less than 90 seconds after Chicago’s goal, Brad Davis’ free kick connected with Dwayne De Rosario in the box and De Rosario had no trouble left-footing the ball past Fire goalie Jon Busch with 6:15 showing on the clock.

Houston missed a couple of good scoring chances to take the lead, but kept up its offensive sorties to keep Chicago scrambling.

Then, with 38:32 into the game the home team got the loudest cheers of the night when midfielder Brian Mullen, biding his time on the right side of the Fire box, took a pass from Brad Davis and put Houston up 2-1 to stay. The scoring play itself was a text book chain as Nate Jaqua passed to Davis who set up Mullen.

The rest of the half and the second half Chicago attempted to get even but the Dynamo defense was up to the task.

“Our fans are a huge support for us,” said De Rosario in a released Dynamo statement after the game. “Our fans are our 12^th man on the field, especially in the dying moments of a game like tonight.”

Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear said that Houston’s goal so quickly after Chicago went up 1-0 was very important.

“I think that first goal lit a fire because we all thought it was a foul,” he said. “There is no better answer to a goal then to score one.

“It was a great response, but obviously for me, the play of the night was the second goal. It was just an excellent goal.”

For statisticians and those who like to keep track of records, the game was the 100^th regular season start for Dynamo defender Bobby Boswell. He’s started all 22 games this year for Houston. Mullen made his 180^th career MLS start.

The win kept Dynamo atop the Western Conference with 35 points on a record of 9-5-8. Real Salt Lake is in second with 30 points.

Houston plays Kansas City at 2 p.m. on Sunday. The Wizards are in last place in the Eastern Conference at 6-8-8 for 26 points. Last week they lost 2-1 to the San Jose Earthquake.

Probably the most famous soccer player since Pele will make his first appearance in Houston when David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy play the Dynamo at Robertson Stadium on Oct. 18. The Galaxy also has United States leading scorer Landon Donovan. LA is coached by former U. S. head coach Bruce Arena. Tickets for that game, which is expected to be a sellout, went on sale Wednesday.