HOUSTON - Benny Feilhaber crushed a 23-yard blast in the dying moments to snatch a point for Sporting Kansas City in a thrilling 4-4 draw with the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium.
Up a man and pushing for an equalizer after conceding in the 84th minute, Feilhaber scored his second goal of the night by putting his laces through the ball from distance and securing a bruising point for the visitors. Feilhaber’s late antics erased what looked like a hero goal from Dynamo newcomer Raul Rodriguez, the Spanish acquisition who rushed the near post to head home a Brad Davis free kick in the 84th minute.
Rodriguez’ goal attempted to erase a six-minute stretch that saw Houston crumble from mistakes after a poor pass from Giles Barnes and controversial handball call on Jermaine Taylor gave Sporting KC two second-half goals.
Feilhaber first drew the game level when he converted an 80th minute penalty kick came after Taylor was ruled to have handled a Krisztian Nemeth attempt. On replay the ball looked to come off Taylor’s chest, but referee Kevin Stott pointed to the spot and showed the Jamaican international a red card. Feilhaber buried his ensuing attempt to Tyler Deric’s left to bring the score to 3-3.
Dom Dwyer opened the door for Feilhaber’s equalizer, pouncing on an ill-advised back pass from Barnes and, after a failed cut-out attempt from Deric, slotted a shot into the open net at the 74-minute mark.
Before his blunder, Barnes looked to be the early hero. He scored in both halves, bookending a Will Bruin goal. Barnes' first came after Houston went down 1-0 to a third-minute Nemeth goal, as he punished a mistake following a scuffed clearance from midfielder Servando Carrasco. The ball landed in the path of Barnes, who sliced the half-volley past goalkeeper Luis Marin to pull the game level.
Barnes struck again less than a minute into the second half, driving up field and taking his chance from roughly 22 yards out. Marin was slow to react and was beat to near post to give Houston a 3-1 lead.
Just before the end of an action-filled, bruising first half, Bruin gave Houston a 2-1 lead. Bruin, making his third start of the season, bulled his way to the near post through a crowd of players. Davis, who had two assists on the night to move into third-place all time in assists in MLS, set up the chance by delivering a good corner kick and Bruin opened his 2015 account with a flick off the back of his head.
Nemeth got his night started quickly, scoring three minutes into the game. Houston turned the ball over, allowing Nemeth to eventually pick the ball up and charge towards goal. The forward met no resistance from the retreating Dynamo defense and fired accurately from 25-yards to the far post to claim an early 1-0 lead.
Houston next renew the Texas Derby with FC Dallas at home on Friday night. Sporting KC continue by taking on the Chicago Fire next Saturday.
Houston Dynamo (2-2-4; 10 points) vs. Sporting Kansas City (2-2-4; 10 points)
MLS regular season
April 25, 2015 – BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, Texas
Attendance: 21,046
Scoring Summary:
Sporting Kansas City: Krisztian Németh 3 (Marcel de Jong 1) 2
Houston Dynamo: Giles Barnes 3 (unassisted) 11
Houston Dynamo: Will Bruin 1 (Brad Davis 2) 45 + 1
Houston Dynamo: Giles Barnes 4 (Nathan Sturgis 1) 46
Sporting Kansas City: Dom Dwyer 2 (unassisted) 74
Sporting Kansas City: Benny Feilhaber 1 (penalty) 80
Houston Dynamo: Raúl Rodríguez 1 (Brad Davis 3) 83
Sporting Kansas City: Benny Feilhaber 2 (Graham Zusi 1) 90+5
Houston Dynamo: Tyler Deric; Kofi Sarkodie, Jermaine Taylor, Raúl Rodríguez, DaMarcus Beasley; Alexander López (David Horst 80), Ricardo Clark, Nathan Sturgis (Luis Garrido 84), Brad Davis ©; Will Bruin (Chandler Hoffman 70), Giles Barnes
Substitutes Not Used: Joe Willis, Alex, Leonel Miranda, Rob Lovejoy
Sporting Kansas City: Luis Marín; Jalil Anibaba, Kevin Ellis (Connor Hallisey 90+2), Matt Besler ©, Marcel de Jong (Amadou Dia 63); Roger Espinoza, Servando Carrasco (Soni Mustivar 55), Benny Feilhaber; Graham Zusi, Dominic Dwyer, Krisztian Németh
Substitutes Not Used: Tim Melia, Paulo Nagamura, Bernardo Anor, Jacob Peterson
Disciplinary Summary
SKC: Roger Espinoza (caution) 31
SKC: Jalil Anibaba (caution) 43
SKC: Kevin Ellis (caution) 53
HOU: Will Bruin (caution) 63
HOU: Jermaine Taylor (ejection) 79
Referee: Kevin Stott
Assistant Referees: Chris Strickland, Apolinar Mariscal
Fourth Official: Armando Villarreal
