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Hall stands tall as Dynamo spoils DeRo’s debut in tie with slow-starting Red Bulls

Dwayne DeRosario (ISIPhotos.com)

Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIPhotos.com

 

Dwayne DeRosario's New York Red Bulls debut started as well as he and his new team could have hoped, with a skillful assist on his first touch. Unfortunately for the Red Bulls, that moment of brilliance was one of the few the Red Bulls could muster.

DeRosario's long-range pass set up a Dane Richards goal, but Houston responded immediately when Cam Weaver beat Bouna Coundoul to a ball outside the penalty area and chipped the over-aggressive Red Bulls goalkeeper in a 1-1 draw at Red Bull Arena.

Despite all the stars on the field for New York, Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall stole the show, making a handful of clutch saves to help Houston escape New Jersey with a point despite a second-half surge by the Red Bulls.

Houston took advantage of a slow start by New York to nearly take a first-half lead on a few different occasions. A diving Coundoul save on a Geoff Cameron shot saved one goal while a Ching volley caromed off the crossbar.

New York's offense was stagnant in the first half with Mehdi Ballouchy struggling to make an impact, and with Thierry Henry continuing his lackluster early-season form.

Things changed dramatically in the second half, after DeRosario replaced Ballouchy at halftime. DeRosario set up Richards for the opening goal and was an effective distributor during his 45 minutes of action.

DeRosario's performance was made more impressive by the fact that he hadn't trained with the team yet. He arrived from Toronto on Saturday morning and met his new teammates just two hours before Saturday's match.

"You’ve seen how good these guys are and it’s a different style of play, but they like to move the ball around," DeRosario said. "I like the rhythm they play with and I think I can fit in quite nicely, but of course you have to work in position and at the end of the day you have to do your job."

"I think he changed the game in the second half with his final pass for the first goal," Backe said of DeRosario. "And also the way he controlled our game from the go left, go right, to the straight passes, very comfortable on the ball. He will definitely be a key player for us."

Houston kept numbers back late in the match to try and hold onto the tie, and Hall made Weaver's goal stand up with a handful of clutch saves.

"It’s a point gained, especially coming from behind as well," said Dynamo head coach Dom Kinnear. "We responded as quick as we did. I’m not too thrilled with the goal we gave up, but then the response from us was great.

"I thought we broke pretty good a couple times there, could have been better there for us, but we did have some tired legs. But overall, pretty pleased with a point there."

Comments

  1. pete, you do know the captain of your team used an intentional handball to help france slide into the last world cup. where are your f-yous to him? also, if you really want johan to find you at rba, post a pic in the avatar box.

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  2. True. Giants Stadium was awful. So, based on your comments, clearly others think the trip is not bad. What explains the empty stands then? There are soccer fans here, no? Maybe it was the NCAA, the Devils game, or something else. I wish RBA was packed for every game. Hope we get there soon. In the meantime, maybe I’ll try to stop focusing on the trip and enjoy the games more. I do always ha e a great time there.

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  3. I think he was saying as long as he is wearing a Houston Kit it’s ok to jeer him, but once he puts on the good old stars and stripes the jeering should stop, as he is playing for “our” team.

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  4. There are numerous players who played against NY, were on the end of chants of equal spirit, and turned and applauded to the South Ward at the end of the half. A person with maturity would realize that there is no intention to actually damage the person; it’s an attempt to take their mind out of the game in good fun, and most competitors can respect that up to a point. Shall we keep everything to a PG Boy Scout “You play for the other team, you stink!” level? It’s not like we’re bringing up memories of a family tragedy or something. Donovan Ricketts learned that he likes little boys and his reaction was to laugh and applaud instead of crying which earned him even more respect. I don’t think US Reject at all crosses any line of civilized behavior. My opinion.

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  5. Henry seems too interested in being deferential to his teammates, focusing on being a playmake rather than the scorer that he is. He is also refreshingly sportsmanlike to opponents, but at times it seems almost forced. It’s as if he is combatting expectations that he’s an egotistical foreign star. But sometimes stars have to be selfish and sharp-elbowed. Sorry for the amateur psychology.

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  6. I’ve been disappointed with Thierry Henry too. Loved him at Arsenal, was cool with him at Barca, but in NY he is saying all the right things, just not doing the right things on the field. Pewrhaps he is enjoying NYC a little too much?

    It seems he’s like some players who have played at the highest level and then fallen from his form.

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  7. I live in Brooklyn too, Clinton Hill, and I don’t find the trip to be a hassle. Giants Stadium? Now that was a hassle!!!

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  8. Yeah, Henry was awful. Missing sitters, not jumping for headers, not running hard, not playing up top but frequently dropping back to pass to someone else.

    People were openly asking what’s wrong with Henry. It’s hard to see that and remember that we let a class act like JPA go for Henry to “lead” this team.

    He needs to earn his pay. And this team needs to play better, more convincingly and with more passion. I also drove for 3hrs plus to be there and I was disappointed with the lack of effort for 75 minutes. Particularly the first half. Although the tailgating I did before the game was awesome!

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  9. There was another incident when he went up for a header and pretended he got hit or pushed in the back, flopped, and earned a foul. Happened right in front of me. There was no contact. It was pathetic. I can’t blame fans for booing what they witness. I was booing myself.

    When Henry played badly, we criticized him as well. Ultimately people came to see a good game, not theatrics.

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  10. I also was at the game, and Ching faked injury and contact repeatedly before he really got injured. I have a lot of respect for how he’s played in the past, but he’s definitely on the decline. It was frustrating to see him go down with no contact, eventually stop play, come off the field *without* the stretcher, and immediately start sprinting on the side. I seriously thought he was injured when we went down without contact, but after he got back up and came back onto the field, I doubt he had anything that serious.

    Sorry guys, but Ching has become a faker. It was pathetic, honestly, from a player who has been so good in the past.

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  11. Ashley Cole gets whistles and jeers EVERYWHERE he plays, but once the England shirt is on most of it stops. Same for Terry after his little fling and others across the globe, common practice IMO. Boo whomever, but respect them in your countries colors seems to be the motto.

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  12. Why are you guys being so sensitive? Athletes getting jeered by opposing fans is not anything new to sports. Is Brian Ching’s psyche so fragile that he can’t handle some boos?

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  13. While a player is wearing rival colors he is fair game to any chant, reject or not. Once the player removes the rival colors then they can be praised for previous acts. I like Ching, i even hate Marquez, but for 90 minutes last night Ching was my enemy and Marquez was my allie. While the game is being played they are fair game to insult in anyway but once it’s over we are all part of the same MLS supporters.

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  14. I think his sentence should read “So agudelo was put aside or what? Now that dero is in ny?” still no more coherent

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  15. I guess I must have imagined all the people online who have no problem saying national team players are crap and don’t belong on the national team–but chanting it at the stadium just crosses a line.

    (I know the players don’t hear it online and do at the stadium. But you shouldn’t say anything online that you wouldn’t say in person).

    I guess because he’s probably not going to play for the US again we can forget about that. I wonder how that kind of opinion would change if he got called in again during the gold cup.

    As far as the actual game, I thought it was pretty sub-par from the Red Bulls for the most part. Chances missed on both sides, though, and you probably could have seen a result from either side anywhere from 1-1 to 4-4. DeRo looked fantastic, and I’m really looking forward to seeing the team improve with him in the next couple of weeks.

    I wasn’t thrilled at all with Henry’s performance yet. I’m not worried about it yet, but I can’t honestly say I’ll feel the same way about it in six weeks or so.

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  16. My thoughts on the game as
    Red Bulls season ticket holder.

    The US reject chant is terrible. Needs to stop.
    If you want to boo people thats fine. Like the first time Beckham played NY a few yrs ago there was lots of very loud booing which I thought was great.

    Snooze of a first half. Very exciting 2nd half.
    Huge kudos to the Houston goalie.

    Henry – what the heck?

    DeRo – Love him as a player. Fantastic game – even more amazing considering he just got off a plane and may not have even known everyones name!

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  17. Yes words sung to get in an opponent’s head are more damaging than physical violence like face-punching. Rational thinking be praised!

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  18. When I talk about heckling players using the reject chant, I am talking about USMNT Supporters using the chant against former US nationals. Is that really how you want to thank players who represented the country? Is that the message you want to send to future internationals, that they will receive this kind of abuse from the so called American fans? I even heard this chant come out against Brian McBride. In my mind, there should be absolutely no reason to use the chant against a former us international if you are american. If you support a different nation, I do not have a problem with you saying it.

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  19. Re point 3, I hear ya. Very disappointing. But from personal experience, the reason behind the empty stadium is sheer inconvenience and annoyance. I timed my trip to arrive at kickoff and leave at the final whistle. No tailgating. No 45 minutes pre-game wait at the slowest concession stands in the tri-state area. Clearly, from my moniker, I live in Brooklyn. I left my apt at 6 pm and walked in my door at 11pm. Total time minus game time plus a 15 minute half is roughly 3 hours and 15 minutes of pure travel time. Not worth the hassle, especially if we continue to draw. I can see the appeal of watching it on HD at home. I wish the stands were full too. But I can see why it may be empty. Maybe they should close off the upper-deck and pack more fans close to the pitch.

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  20. Perfect example of a “fan” of MLS, stating this league should be a USMNT development league. Is the EPL a England development league? Yeah it’s tough that this team, owned by foreigners, pour so much money into the US, and Red Bulls local development academy.

    Just remember home team second to national team, no matter what….

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  21. Except for the fact that you are at a Red Bulls game not a national team game. No wonder people don’t respect MLS, no one can really put their team first.

    As for the US reject chant, it is very classless and all fans that do it should stop. But no one complains when Beckham and other foreigners get heckled. Guess only US players should get the pass.

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  22. We need to start getting 3 points. I think a full week of training with the full squad will do NYRB well. And what a better place to start than 3 points at PPL Park?
    If NY beats Philly, and RSL beats New England, than NYRB’s will be in first place.

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  23. I agree. I’m embarrassed to admit that I have Red Bulls season tickets. After the Marquez shirt presentation I’ve decided to sell my tickets even though I’ll lose money on it this season. You wouldn’t see that sort of thing happen in any other league in any other country (say Donovan was with Leverkusen or Everton when he got his 100th cap – do you think you’d see the same gesture there?) and it’s an insult to the league.

    It’s bad enough that only 10 of the 28 players on the Red Bulls roster are from the US, and only a handful are starters. I’ve supported MLS since the league began to support development of the US team, so it’s hard to give my money to a team that’s become primarily a place for over the hill foreign nationals to exploit for big salaries and the thrill of living in the NYC area.

    The treatment of Ching did not surprise me, however, although I agree the chants were very tacky.

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  24. I was at the game. The NY fans booed Ching when he was injured because instead of getting off the field, he repeatedly returned to the field and flopped over and over, so it looked like he was faking to stop play. It particularly looked bad when he laid on the ground for a long time, then got up and starting running sprints along the sideline.

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  25. Couple of thoughts from the game last night:

    1. Ching could have walked five to the end line,…gotten himself off the field and laid down so trainers could attend to him.

    2. The game was enjoyable as both teams seemed to get after it pretty hard,..with the exception of a certain Frenchman. After two home games it is plainly obvious that Henry is mailing it in. He isn’t trying. Houston has a nice team and worked hard but the Red Bulls should be able to dispatch that team 3-1 if Henry was working for his team.

    3. Crowd was terribly disappointing. It was a beautiful evening,…the stadium is fabulous but half full. What a shame.

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  26. I whole heartily agree. I don’t think any American fan should chant “US Reject!” to an old national team player. Totally classless of the NYRB supporters group. This chant really needs to stop.

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  27. i will always boo ching,never like him…class act really how about we goo back when he played for quakes when we were metro ,3-1 victory of quackes,metro is playing half a squad ..and this assholle cheated his way to score with hand twice ,i was at that game and see it upclose.so F him…as for Johan Hanoug really u will do this,ok come to RBa and look for Polish Pete so you can punch me in the face..

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  28. As a NY/US fan I’ve always thought the “reject” chant was stupid… But I’ve heard it everywhere. As to the booing…

    Look, I like Ching too, always have. But I was at the game and this is what happened:

    He went down once and looked like he got shot. Stayed down while the red bulls had possession. There wasn’t a boo in the house. When the ball went out of bounds… He got up and seemed fine.

    Then minutes later he went down like he got shot. Stayed down while the Red Bulls had possession. A few boos. Curled up into a ball and the boos stopped: he looked really hurt then and it had been through a good spell of NY possession. NY loses the ball, the trainers come out – silence.

    And then Ching gets up and walks to the sideline and jogs around like he’s perfectly fine.

    That’s when the boos start in earnest.

    He was actually hurt, and that sucks. But it sure looked like the weirdest time-wasting I’ve ever seen. (so did Tally with taking forever to punt balls in the first half- Henry literally stood there with his arms up looking at the ref saying “why so long?”, which he did on a few occasions. Also weird)

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  29. I was at the game – the Ching badgering was uncalled for…he has been a classy, hardworking US Nat forever, he should be cheered, not castigated. And THEN they HONOR Rafa Marquez for his 100th cap for Mexico – nice touch, but REALLY – cheer loudly for a member of our hated rival Mexico and boo Chinger?? Certainly a down moment in an otherwise terrifc family outing – great atmosphere, great stadium

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  30. The only reason I don’t like it is because the guy is such a class act. I am a Quakes supporter and I hate it when other Quakes fans give him a hard time as well. To treat him like that after being such a good pro with us is ridic.

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  31. every NYRB fan i see from now on is going to be punched in the face. Brian ching is a great guy and to be insulted like that unprovoked only means that NYRB fans were taunting him out of fear he would score!

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  32. the fans knew perfectly well that he was hurt. They booed him because they saw the fans in LA do it and thought it would be “cool” and/or damaging to the dynamo’s team morale by doing so. If nothing else they get a kick out of it under the guise of “getting under a player’s skin”. As you pointed out, what is the point in doing so when the guy is obviously injured in visible pain?

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  33. There was no tactical advantage to Ching faking injury at that point in the game. Even as he was substituted they boo’d. It reveals the NY fan base ignorance to have boo’d him. Shameful. What is it about Northeastern sports fans that make them so repugnant? Pigs.

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  34. Ching got decked by Coundoul twice (not that Coundoul was playing dirty). He appeared to walk off with a rib injury, probably a cracked rib. Hopefully it is not too bad and he will be back soon because he just got back from injury.
    The “US reject” chant needs to be stopped by American fans on former national team members. How can anyone who supports the US national team, especially americans, call former national team members rejects? Just beyond me. Seems to be the most backwards thinking chant I have ever heard.

    Overall much better performance by Houston than in Seattle. The first half gives me hope that this team may actually do something this season; maybe at least be a mid-table team instead of bottom dwellers. I think saying Houston would immediately bounce back from last season was a stretch considering how many new people have been brought in. Will take at least another year before we could hope for a real good rise in my mind.

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  35. What? how can this be i thought we were going to cancel the MLS season and give the trophy to the NJ Metro Stars now

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