Summary
After seizing a 3-0 lead in the first half on a Brad Davis laser and two goals from Brian Ching, the Dynamo went up 4-1 in the second half on a Stuart Holden penalty kick – on his birthday – before holding on for a 4-3 win. Mike Chabala and Dominic Oduro both contributed two assists.
Notes
The Houston Dynamo scored three goals in a four-minute span in the first half and held on in the second half for a 4-3 win over D.C. United Saturday night at Robertson Stadium, maintaining Houston’s two-point lead atop the MLS standings with 35 points after 20 games.
The four goals were the most scored by the Dynamo in an MLS regular season game since August 20, 2008, in a 4-0 win over Chivas USA, a stretch of 29 games. The three goals in four minutes was the fastest three goals in Dynamo history.
The Dynamo remain unbeaten all-time against D.C. United at Robertson Stadium, improving to 4-0-1 in all competitions. The Dynamo have outscored D.C. United 7-3 in those games, with forward Brian Ching scoring five of the seven goals.
Forward Brian Ching, playing his first game with the Dynamo since June 28 due to national team duty, scored goals in the 38th and 39th minutes to give him seven goals in 11 games on the year and 20 goals in his last 30 MLS regular season goals.
Midfielder Brad Davis opened the scoring in the 36th minute, rifling a shot into the lower right corner from the top of the penalty area. The goal was the fourth for Davis on the MLS season, his highest total since scoring six goals with Dallas in 2003. It was also the 25th goal of Davis’ MLS career. Davis also scored in the MLS All-Star Game Wednesday night.
After Luciano Emilio scored early in the second half for D.C. United, Stuart Holden gave the Dynamo a 4-1 lead in the 66th minute when he converted a penalty kick for his fifth goal of the MLS season, tying a career high set last year. The goal came on Holden’s 24th birthday.
Forward Dominic Oduro, starting with Brian Ching for the first time in his career, assisted on two goals to bring his season total to four. Left back Mike Chabala also had two assists, while Holden earned his fourth assist of the year.
Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad was credited with four saves and passed teammate Brian Mullan to become the Dynamo’s all-time leader in minutes played in all competitions with 11,859 minutes, surpassing Mullan’s 11,839.
Houston played without forwards Kei Kamara (quad) and Cam Weaver (groin); midfielder Brian Mullan (ankle); and defenders Richard Mulrooney (knee) and Eddie Robinson (knee).
D.C. United’s three goals marked only the third time this season the Dynamo have given up more than one goal in an MLS regular season game; the other two came March 28 (3-2 loss to San Jose) and July 11 (2-1 loss to Seattle). The Dynamo dropped from first to third in the league in scoring defense.
D.C. United (6-4-10) vs. Houston Dynamo (10-5-5)
August 01, 2009 -- Robertson Stadium, Houston TX
Scoring Summary:
HOU -- Brad Davis 4 (Dominic Oduro 3, Mike Chabala 2) 36
HOU -- Brian Ching 6 (Dominic Oduro 4, Stuart Holden 4) 38
HOU -- Brian Ching 7 (Mike Chabala 3) 39
DC -- Luciano Emilio 7 (Bryan Namoff 4) 48
HOU -- Stuart Holden 5 (penalty kick) 66
DC -- Fred 2 (Jaime Moreno 3) 74
DC -- Luciano Emilio 8 (Marc Burch 2) 87
D.C. United -- Josh Wicks, Bryan Namoff, Dejan Jakovic, Marc Burch, Fred, Andrew Jacobson, Ben Olsen (Avery John 46), Christian Gomez (Luciano Emilio 46), Santino Quaranta, Jaime Moreno (Danny Szetela 79), Chris Pontius.
Substitutes Not Used: Milos Kocic, John DiRaimondo, Greg Janicki, Devon McTavish.
Houston Dynamo -- Pat Onstad, Andrew Hainault (Craig Waibel 83), Bobby Boswell, Julius James, Mike Chabala, Geoff Cameron, Ricardo Clark, Stuart Holden, Brad Davis (Corey Ashe 64), Brian Ching (Ade Akinbiyi 79), Dominic Oduro.
Substitutes Not Used: Tally Hall, Wade Barrett, Danny Cruz, Erik Ustruck.
Misconduct Summary:
DC -- Ben Olsen (caution; Reckless Tackle) 20
HOU -- Stuart Holden (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 45
DC -- Christian Gomez (caution; Reckless Tackle) 45
HOU -- Brad Davis (caution; Reckless Foul) 48
DC -- Dejan Jakovic (caution; Dissent) 65
DC -- Josh Wicks (caution; Dissent) 65
DC -- Chris Pontius (caution; Reckless Tackle) 73
gameSumLabel">Referee: Ricardo Salazar
gameSumLabel">Referee's Assistants: C.J. Morgante, Adam Garner
gameSumLabel">4th official: Jasen Anno
gameSumLabel">Attendance: 14,694
Weather: Sunny-and-95-degrees
All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial
