As Tally Hall told reporters after the game, the cards were stacked against the Houston Dynamo in Saturday's match at Toronto FC. With one starting midfielder (Boniek Garcia) not in the lineup due to injury and two starting midfielders (Adam Moffat and Brad Davis) forced out of the lineup early due to injury, Dominic Kinnear's squad was far from full strength heading into the second half of Saturday's match. Add in a red card to Jermaine Taylor, that MLSsoccer.com's Simon Borg believes was the wrong call, and you would not be surprised to see the Dynamo come away from BMO Field empty-handed.
But in the final seconds of the match, the Dynamo did what they do best, playing hard to the last minute and stealing a point off a 94th-minute goal from Warren Creavalle. That resilience was not enough for the writers at MLSsoccer.com, as the league website dropped the Dynamo two spots in this week's power rankings to No. 5. MLS Armchair Analyst Matt Doyle had this to say about the Dynamo:
Credit to the Dynamo for gutting out a point on the road, but their form was worrying up until Warren Creavalle headed home that equalizer. Even more of a concern has to be the health of Brad Davis. Watching him limp off ... that's a big "ouch."
Pundits around the league appear to agree with MLSsoccer.com as both SI.com's Avi Creditor and ESPN.com's Jeff Carlisle also had the in the No. 5 spot following last weekend's matches.
Creditor on Houston: Warren Creavalle's last-gasp equalizer salvaged a point for the Dynamo, down a man after Jermaine Taylor's red card. The Jamaican center back will miss the club's next chance to add to its record home unbeaten streak when Houston welcomes the Colorado Rapids to BBVA Compass Stadium on Sunday.
Carlisle on Houston: No team shows such a disparity between home and road form. Yet despite being outplayed at Toronto and being a man down for 30 minutes, the Dynamo recorded its first road point of the season after Warren Creavalle's stoppage-time goal.
The Dynamo will return home this week to take on the Colorado Rapids. Oscar Pareja's side is coming off a 1-0 home loss to the Seattle Sounders and currently sits at No. 16 in MLSsoccer.com's power rankings. Doyle had this to say about the Rapids:
Based on the fight they showed against Seattle, they probably don't deserve to drop. But we can't ignore either that record, or the fact that they're now missing more than half their starters to injury. This is looking like a cursed season for the Rapids.
Sunday's match kicks off at 4 p.m. Tickets are still available and be purchased at HoustonDynamo.com/Tickets or by calling (713) 276-GOAL.
