The slumping Houston Dynamo made significant tweaks to their formation and lineup against Columbus Crew SC on Saturday night, including a first start of 2016 for goalkeeper Tyler Deric.
Unfortunately for Owen Coyle & Co., it all flew out the window just 18 minutes in, when Deric's night ended prematurely via a foul on Federico Higuain in the Houston box that earned a penalty kick and straight red card for denial of a goal-scoring opportunity. Kei Kamara beat Deric's replacement Joe Willis from the spot for what would eventually prove the game-winner, his third strike of the year.
The Dynamo battened down the hatches and defended stoutly and intelligently down the stretch, keeping themselves within striking distance. But the visitors could create little danger in the attacking end and their winless skid has now run to five straight, while Columbus have won two in a row.
Houston Dynamo (1-4-2, 5 points) at Columbus Crew SC (2-3-2, 8 points)
MLS Regular Season
April 23, 2016—MAPFRE Stadium—Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 17,705
Scoring Summary:
Columbus: Kai Kamara 3 (penalty) 20
Houston Dynamo: Tyler Deric; Sheanon Williams (David Horst 75), Raul RodrÃguez, Agus, DaMarcus Beasley; Andrew Wenger, Collen Warner (Joe Willis 20), Ricardo Clark, Alex, Boniek GarcÃa (Abdoulie Mansally 61); Giles Barnes ©
Substitutes Not Used: Will Bruin, Cristian Maidana, Leonel Miranda, Erick Torres
TOTAL SHOTS: 4 (Agus 1, Giles Barnes 1, Ricardo Clark 1, Andrew Wenger 1); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2 (Giles Barnes 1, Agus 1) FOULS: 12 (Giles Barnes 2, Agus 2, Alex 2, Boniek GarcÃa 2); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 4 (Boniek GarcÃa 2); SAVES: 5 (Joe Willis 5)
Columbus Crew SC: Steve Clark; Waylon Francis, Tyson Wahl, Michael Parkhurst ©, Harrison Afful; Wil Trapp, Mohammed Saeid (Rodrigo Saravia 74), Federico Higuain, Justin Meram, Ethan Finlay (Ola Kamara 63); Kei Kamara
Substitutes Not Used: Brad Stuver, Amro Tarek, Héctor Jiménez, Cedrick Mabwati, Conor Casey
TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Justin Meram 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Kei Kamara 3); FOULS: 14 (Harrison Afful 2, Michael Parkhurst 2, Waylon Francis 2, Wil Trapp 2); OFFSIDES: 9 (Kei Kamara 3, Waylon Francis 3); CORNER KICKS: 11 (Federico Higuain 7); SAVES: 2 (Steve Clark 2)
Disciplinary Summary:
Houston : Tyler Deric (ejection) 18
Columbus: Justin Meram (caution) 24
Columbus: Tyson Wahl (caution) 27
Referee: Kevin Stott
Referee’s Assistants: Eric Boria, Danny Thornberry
Fourth Official: Kevin Terry Jr.
