Houston Dynamo Get 1-0 Win Against Real Salt Lake Thanks to Late Penalty

Photo by Nigel Brooks

Between the weird scheduling of the match on a Thursday night, the questionable officiating, depleted rosters, and the rather languid play, last night's match between the Houston Dynamo and Real Salt Lake took the "beautiful" out of the beautiful game. Until the final seconds of the match, it appeared that the score would stay at 0-0 and the Dynamo would have to wait until September 29th to finally pick up their first MLS home win since August 3rd, but then Macoumba Kandji was fouled in the box and Colin Clark converted giving the Dynamo a 1-0 win and breaking their 4 match streak of not winning an MLS match.

Going into Thursday's match, things did not look promising for the Dynamo squad, which had been decimated by injuries, international call-ups, and some sort of vicious stomach virus. Instead of starting the match with the typical 7 substitutes on the bench, the Dynamo managed to only put 5 players on the bench and had to cancel the reserves match due to the lack of available players.

For over half of the match, it appeared that the Dynamo were in a preventive defense, just trying to hold off the Salt Lake attack in hopes of picking up a draw. Late in the second half, the Dynamo managed to regroup and put more pressure on Salt Lake Keeper Nick Rimando, who put on a stellar performance that surely foreshadowed his future at the international level.

Hope of a goal appeared in the 75th minute when Will Bruin picked up a penalty, and Brad Davis was given the green light to take the kick, but, to the chagrin of Dynamo fans, Rimando, who is one of the best keepers in the MLS at saving penalty kicks, prevented Davis' attempt from going into the net.

In the end though, Rimando turned out to be his own worst enemy because he was the player that fouled Kandji, thereby setting up Clark's match winning penalty kick.

The 3 points that the Dynamo picked up last night will potentially prove crucial as the Dynamo fight to ensure the squad a spot in the MLS Cup playoffs.

Next up for the Dynamo is a visit to Livestrong Sporting Park to face the current leaders of the Eastern Conference, Sporting Kansas City, on Friday September 14th at 7:00 pm cdt. The match will be televised on NBC Sports Network.

Episode 34 of The Zygo Soccer Report: Alex Dixon Gives Dynamo a 3-2 Win over Real Salt Lake

Homegrown Houston Dynamo player, Alex Dixon, picks up a late goal giving the Dynamo a crucial 3-2 win over Real Salt Lake this past Saturday evening at Robertson Stadium. Hear Alex Dixon and Dynamo Coach Dominic Kinnear talk to the press after the match:

Breaking Bones in Major League Soccer - What do You Think?

For the third team in the two plus month old 2011 MLS Season a player has suffered a broken bone as a result of a tackle. This weekend it was Javier Morales of Real Salt Lake who broke his ankle during this tackle by Chivas USA's Marcos Mondaini:



This tackle induced injury comes on the heels of two other high profile incidents where tackles resulted in broken bones.

First there was Brian Mullan's tackle on Steve Zakuani on April 22nd:



And then 2010 MLS MVP David Ferreira broke his ankle on April 23rd when he was tackled by Jonathan Leathers:



We know that Mullan was suspended for 10 games and that Leathers, who was not carded for the tackle, was not disciplined for his tackle. Mondaini received a red card but, as of this posting, the MLS disciplinary committee has yet to rule on whether he'll receive an any additional punishment for the tackle.

It's also important to point out that while Dejan Jakovic's recent tackle on Geoff Cameron did not result in any broken bones, the tackle was not all that different from Mullan's tackle on Zakuani, but Jakovic was not disciplined by the committee.



Not surprisingly, this recent string of tackles has resulted in a large amount of chatter amongst MLS fans and journalists who cover MLS, but nobody seems to have a good idea as to what MLS should do about these tackles.

So now it's your chance to use the comments section of this column to explain what you think MLS should do to prevent reckless tackles that result in broken bones in the future. Or, maybe you don't think MLS should do anything about this issue, if so, use the comments section to explain why you feel that way.

I'll wait about a week, see what people say, and then do a column about your responses and my thoughts on the matter. Please type freely and let's not get into flaming wars. All opinions are valid, because they are opinions.

Why Did Both Renteria & Bochers See Red in CONCACAF Champions League?

Tuesday night marked the return of the CONCACAF Champions League, with the Columbus Crew - Real Salt Lake tie being the focus of Major League Soccer fans. Ending in a 0-0 draw, it wasn't the most exciting match, but considering that this was the first competitive match either side has played in months, it could of been much worse. In some ways, the most active person on the pitch in Columbus last night was referee Jair Marrufo, who handed out three red cards.

In fact, Marrufo issued a double sending off to Nat Bochers and Emilio Renteria for off the ball fouls in the 72nd minute. Since the Bochers-Renteria scuffle occurred off the ball, television viewers only saw this:



While Bochers can clearly be seen throwing either his arm or elbow into Renteria, viewers were left scratching their heads as to why Renteria was also sent off. Apparently, according to Bochers, what the television viewers saw was his retaliation after Renteria had elbowed him in the throat.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, this is what Bochers had to say about the incident:

"If you want to use an analogy, I think what I did was petty theft and what he did was a first-degree felony," Borchers said. "I hope they caught it on tape. I thought it was a very unfair judgment against me. Hit me right in the neck. Had I not backed off him and (had) he connected, I might be speaking to you through a breathing tube. I thought it was bad. In the heat of the battle you do stupid things, but that was bad from him. Unfortunately the refs didn’t catch it."

Both Renteria and Bochers, along with Real Salt Lake's Tony Beltran, who picked up a red card in the first half, will not be available when the teams meet in the second leg of this tie on March 2nd in Sandy, Utah.

Bobby Rhine on 1560 The Game's Orange Slice

Former FC Dallas forward and current play-by-play man for FC Dallas television broadcasts joined The Orange Slice on 1560 The Game to discuss Dallas' return to the MLS Playoffs. The Orange Slice airs on 1560 The Game in Houston every Saturday morning from 9-10 central time. If you don't live in Houston, never fear cause 1560 streams live on the internet 24/7 - CLICK HERE FOR THE 1560 STREAM.

Here's the podcast of Bobby Rhine on The Orange Slice:

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Post Game Video Round-Up

Here's a bunch of videos shot by Erin Dutka in the visiting locker room following the Houston Dynamo home games so far this season.