Angeles Galaxy
MLS- Houston Dynamo beats Chivas USA to end up second
The Houston Dynamo ended the season with a 3-2 victory over Chivas USA and gained second place in the Western Conference. Andrew Hainault, Dominic Oduro, and Abe Thompson scored for Houston to give the team the win. The first two goals of the game were completed in the first half over a period of only three minutes; the last goal came in the second half. It was only in the second half that the Chivas were roused into action, but their energy wasn’t enough to capture the game. The win over the Chivas gave the Dynamo 48 points, tying the team with Los Angeles for second place. The Dynamo will open the playoffs against the Seattle Sounders FC, with the first match on Thursday. Houston coach Dominic Kinnear was not especially pleased with the playoffs schedule and location. He complained that the Dynamo would have no time to recover from their CONCACAF game in El Salvador on Wednesday before traveling to Seattle the next week. The team rested in California until Tuesday, when it moved to Seattle for the first leg of the playoffs. "I'm not worried about their fitness, I'm worried about how many games they've played," the coach said. "Now we're playing on Thursday and the league didn't take into account that we played in CONCACAF on Wednesday. It's unfair." Chivas USA fell to fourth place with 45 points. Their next game is against the Los Angeles Galaxy at the Home Depot Center, the first against their longtime rivals in the postseason. Chivas will be at home on Sunday; the Galaxy will host the second match November 8th. The Chivas are not so pleased with fourth place. Their primary goal had been to reach the Western Conference Championships, but with draws against San Jose and New York, the team lost its chances. Their game against the Dynamo followed a similar plotline: plenty of opportunities – 3 shots within the first half hour of the game – a majority of which leapt directly in Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad’s waiting arms. The Dynamo capitalized on the moment and, in minute 26, Ryan Cochrane headed a corner kick to the front of the net. Just minutes later, Dominic Oduro took the ball from Brad Davis into the penalty area to push Houston’s lead to 2-0. The Dynamo kept their comfortable lead into halftime. Thompson added the third point in minute 52. Chivas finally responded 7 minutes later, with rookie Michael Lahoud’s first goal. Chivas took a second goal at minute 88 with a penalty kick from Eduardo Lillingston. Their final efforts, however, came to naught. The Dynamo took the victory with a 1-point lead. With such effort, Chivas coach Preki Radosavljevic lamented the lack of reward for his team. “The way we played, the way we fought, our energy, hopefully they will get rewarded because there was only one team on the field who played soccer, there was only one team on the field who had chances and that team lost. Quite a few times the game can be cruel,” Radosavlijevic said. “We are not putting our head down.”
About the Author
Audrey Nolan is a top senior copy writer on MLS Games racing action for the online sportsbetting www.instantactionsports.com
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