Dynamo hold on to top United
Ching brace helps Houston overcome visiting D.C.
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Brian Ching scored two goals, Dominic Oduro chipped in with two assists and Brad Davis scored his fourth goal of the season as the Dynamo snapped a three-match winless streak against a United team that started the season series with a 1-0 win at RFK Stadium back on April 4.
Stuart Holden, like Ching in his first game back from playing for the U.S. national team, added his fifth goal of the season on a penalty kick in the second half. That goal, on Holden's 24th birthday, rounded out the scoring for the Dynamo -- who saw United crawl back into the game with three second-half goals, two from Luciano Emilio and one from Fred.
Davis got things started for the Dynamo in the 36th minute when he sent a left-footed blast just inside the far post from outside the area after taking a pass from Oduro. The goal came just moments after Ching missed a good opportunity, but Houston recovered with Davis' fourth score of the season for a 1-0 lead.
The surge continued less than two minutes later when Ching got free after taking an exchange from Holden and Oduro in the midfield. Ching buried a rising shot past Josh Wicks from inside the area for a 2-0 lead, and Holden and Oduro each had their fourth assists of the season.
Ching scored his seventh goal of the season in the 39th minute after taking a low cross from Mike Chabala and hooking it inside the far post for the Orange who now lead Seattle FC by six points in the Western Conference standings.
United made it 3-1 early in the second half when they caught the Dynamo napping on a free kick by Bryan Namoff.
With Davis arguing a yellow card, Namoff fed Emilio (who entered the match as a substitute to start the second half). Emilio got ahead of the defense and just as Julius James got back in position, Emilio fired a shot that deflected off James' leg. The ball went high into the left corner of the net, and D.C. had some life.
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In the 66th minute, the Dynamo earned a penalty kick when Oduro had the ball with some room inside the box. He was taken down on the fly by Marc Burch, and referee Ricardo Salazar immediately pointed to the center of the box.
After Holden's conversion restored the three-goal lead, Fred made it 4-2 with a beautiful 30-yard shot after taking a quick feed from Jaime Moreno. For Fred, it was his second goal of the season.
United rounded out the scoring in the 87th minute when Emilio capped off a series of scoring chances in front of Pat Onstad from a corner kick. After Onstad made a point-blank save, the rebound when right to Burch who found Emilio at the far post.
Emilio didn't miss, after seeing Onstad block his backheel moments earlier, making the match a lot more interesting for Houston, who looked very tired at the end of the regulation and into stoppage time.
The Dynamo will travel to Dallas Thursday for their last regular season meeting with their intrastate rivals, while D.C. United will have next weekend off, returning to action Aug. 15 at Toronto FC.
Andrew J. Ferraro is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
D.C. United
(6-4-10)
vs. Houston Dynamo
(10-5-5)
August 01, 2009 -- Robertson Stadium
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)
49
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, Christian Gomez (Luciano Emilio 46), Andrew Jacobson, Ben Olsen (Avery John 46), Santino Quaranta, Chris Pontius, Jaime Moreno (Danny Szetela 79).
Substitutes Not Used: John DiRaimondo, Greg Janicki, Milos Kocic, 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: Wade Barrett, Danny Cruz, Tally Hall, Erik Ustruck
| Houston Dynamo | D.C. United | |||
| total shots: | 9 |
(Geoff Cameron 2, Brian Ching 2) | 8 | (Chris Pontius 3) |
| shots on goal: | 6 | (Brian Ching 2) | 6 | (Luciano Emilio 2) |
| fouls: | 11 | (3 tied with 2) | 14 | (Ben Olsen 4) |
| offsides: | 4 | (Brian Ching 2) | 4 | (Jaime Moreno 3) |
| corner kicks: | 4 |
(Brad Davis 2, Stuart Holden 2) | 3 | (Santino Quaranta 2) |
| saves: | 3 | (Pat Onstad 3) | 2 | (Josh Wicks 2) |
Misconduct Summary:
DC -- Ben Olsen (caution; Reckless Tackle) 20
DC -- Christian Gomez (caution; Reckless Tackle) 45
HOU -- Stuart Holden (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 45
HOU -- Brad Davis (caution; Reckless Foul) 49
DC -- Marc Burch (caution; Dissent) 65
DC -- Josh Wicks (caution; Dissent) 65
DC -- Chris Pontius (caution; Reckless Tackle) 73
referee: Ricardo Salazar
Referee's Assistants: C.J. Morgante; Adam Garner
4th official: Jasen Anno
time of game: 1:53
attendance: 14,694
weather: Sunny -and- 95 degrees
All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial
