Houston christened their new stadium with a 1-0 win over DC United on Saturday evening. The new BBVA Compass Stadium looked great covered in orange, and the fans made sure to make the first match memorable. Brad Davis curled a shot past DC keeper Bill Hamid in the 67th minute which turned out to be the only goal of the match to give the Dynamo their first win at BBVA.
Now to my analysis of the match. From a DC perspective, this match was a trap game. It was almost like DC United was doomed to lose. It was in the best interest of the league for this to happen as well. We were the bad guys that shouldn’t have won. Proof of this could be found in the weekly picks between the writers of the MLS website where all the writers picked Houston to win. Fortunately for the MLS and the Houston fans, we lost. Still, it doesn’t make easy to take. It was an Eastern Conference match between two solid clubs and three points (heck, one point) would have been a welcoming site.
For the first 60 minutes or so, DC didn’t let down. They were not intimidated by the fans, the new stadium, or the Houston side they beat 3-2 just a few weeks ago. It was an even first half that justly ended 0-0. The second half saw Houston have a few chances, and the Davis goal opened up a whole slew of worms for DC. After the goal, I knew it was pretty much over. With the excitement of the stadium and the number of fans, the momentum was completely on Houston’s side after the goal, especially since it was a high finesse goal. However, DC was able to hold Houston to the one goal and had some good chances near the end with the best one coming with a few minutes to spare, but Houston keeper Tally Hall was able to handle Daniel Woolard’s header to keep the clean sheet.
It also didn’t help when we lost Perry Kitchen in the middle of the first half. I’m not blaming the loss on that in any way, but it certainly didn’t help our cause to have one of our best defensive players leave the game for the majority of the time. Hopefully the young defensive midfielder will not be out long. Another factor that played into this match was the road trip DC had taken. This was the third away match in a row for the Black and Red, so understandably it was rough.
All in all, this match against was just bad timing. New stadium, excited team and fanbase, and a long roadtrip doomed United. Fortunately, they return to RFK Stadium for a three match home schedule starting this Wednesday night against the Colorado Rapids. It’s also “Bike to RFK Night” which includes a discount for cycling groups according to the team site. Hopefully we can get at least two wins in the next three matches to keep us high on the table.
(image courtesy of dcunited.com)
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