At the end of a 34-game season, three points in September might not seem like much, but after last night's 1-0 victory over Real Salt Lake, Houston Dynamo players and coaches did not understate the importance of the three points on Houston's season. With the win, the Dynamo ended a four-game winless streak and moved back into third place in the Eastern Conference.
“It’s huge," head coach Dominic Kinnear said about last night's win. "With Columbus losing [Wednesday] night, it opens up a little opportunity for us."
Although most teams in the Eastern Conference have games in hand on Houston, all the Dynamo can do at this point is take care of their own business and let the rest of the pieces fall in place.
Last night's match also capped a busy spell for the men in orange, which included six games in 19 days in three different countries. In addition to the heavy travel schedule, the Dynamo were without a full squad last night. Due to international call-ups, injuries and a flu-bug, Houston only fielded a 16-man gameday roster, with more than a few guys on the roster not at full strength.
"I think the guys are spent," Kinnear said. "Mentally it’s been tough and physically it’s been more tough, but the three points are there and hopefully the wins continue.”
Most impressive for Houston last night was that the win increased their regular season home-unbeaten streak to 22 games and kept the squad spotless at BBVA Compass Stadium in 2012 (9-0-5).
“We pride ourselves on getting results at home, not just results but wins," said midfielder Colin Clark, who scored the game's lone goal last night. "It’s a mentality throughout the team. Even coming in shorthanded, we still wanted to come out and win.”
