The second half was available on nation TV on ESPN, while the first half was cut due to a WNBA game that went into triple over time. See my views on that in the previous blog. Otherwise:

The 2008 El Capitan title is still up for grabs. The first two times these teams meet this season ended in 2-2 and 3-3 draws. This game ended in a 1-1 draw (I wonder if the next game will 0-0). The game started out with a new structure for the Dynamo, with De Rosario as a forward, and Stuart Holden as the offensive center midfield. This was obviously put it place due to no other strong offensive options. This also allows for a strong outer midfield threats from Davis and Mullen feeding in to Ching and DeRo. On the other side of the pitch, Dallas is adjusting to their new head coach who was going into their second game together. This new coach is putting more effort into the offense, by switching from a four man back to three and having five in the midfield. Cooper and Toja, for Dallas, were set as key target players, as they should be. Cooper, unfortunately, did not have a quality partner up front to hold off the Houston defense. So here’s my game break down:

First Half– The opening play was dominated by the attacking Houston Dynamo(aptly named according to the numbers), with several corner kicks with in the first 20 minutes. Then, in the 21st minute, after several attempts Craig Waibel crossed in to Brian Ching and scored a well placed header. Houston continued to dominate all aspects of game play (again according to the numbers) throughout the first half. And that’s all I have for the first half, again due to lack of TV broadcast (Jeremiah may have more to add this analysis).

Second Half– Dallas was limited to playing on their heels until the 58th minute, when Kenny Cooper stopped looking ineffectual and started looking like the scoring machine he could be. Juan Toja looked much older and slower then last year, perhaps due to the strong defensive shell that Houston created. Then, Dallas showed why this game is considered a strong rivalry. The Houston defense throughout the game likes to push forward and contribute to the offensive push. Dallas found that they could take advantage of the gaps this left in the back line. Toja used his speed to angle behind the midfield and catch a hole in the defensive line, then crossed in a nice angle to Cooper who evened it up in the 62nd minute. The well played game started to get really aggressive after that, and in the 68th minute Dallas’ Serioux received the first yellow card to stop a fast break. Then, in the 76th minute, Dallas’ Ricchetti tackled Holden from behind as he broke free from the defensive line and received a yellow card. This foul was contriversal due to the fact that Holden was free and clear to take a shot, therefore Ricchetti should have received a red card. Lastly, in the 82nd minute, Dallas’ Saragosa received a yellow card for tackling DeRo from behind, and then DeRo pulled Saragosa up off the ground and shoved him back granting himself a yellow card as well. This display of frustration by DeRo was a perfect sign of the lack of production on the Houston side. The Dallas defense in the second half stayed off repeated Dynamo opportunities. Over and over again the Dynamo could not maximize the chances they were producing, their new line up needs to practice together a little more to get their timing and distribution back on track. FC Dallas goal keeper Dario Sala did make the play of the game in the 85th minute, when he jumped over the entire Dynamo offensive attack and punch out a free kick into the box. This play was the last quality attack by Houston and Dallas controlled the tempo from that point on till the closing whistle.

The story of the game comes down to lack of finishing touches by Houston, and not creating enough chances for Dallas. Brad Davis, Bobby Boswell, Marcelo Saragosa, and Adrain Serioux were the horses this game rested on and they worked hard to keep their teams in the game all the way through.

Game Highlights from ESPN:

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?categoryId=null&brand=null&videoId=3463105&n8pe6c=2

http://web.mlsnet.com/media/player/mp_tpl.jsp?w=mms%3A//a1503.v115042.c11504.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/1503/11504/v0001/mlbmls.download.akamai.com/11504/2008/open/gp/06/062608_fcdhou_gp_350.wmv&w_id=22062&catCode=game_packages&type=v_free&_mp=1