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Houston Dynamo at Chicago Fire: Match Night Commentary

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Good evening folks. There is one game on the MLS schedule tonight and it happens to be the best match-up of the week. The red-hot Houston Dynamo take on the Chicago Fire in a battle of top MLS teams.

Both squares are missing players due to national team commitments, but it is the Fire that must cope without Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Gonzalo Segares and Bakary Soumare. Chicago will look to rebound from a rough loss to FC Dallas last Sunday.

I will be providing live commentary on tonight's match so feel free to follow along here, and as always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action:

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FINAL– Dynamo 1, Fire 0. Holden's goal holds up and the Fire drop another one at home. Houston can lay claim to best team in MLS while the Fire loses its second in a week after being undefeated after being unbeaten through the first two months of the season.

That's all for me. Share your post-match thoughts below. Good night. 

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93rd minute– Cameron is named Man of the Match by the Houston broadcast. Easy call there.

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91st minute– Oduro looking sharp on the ball. Not sure where that was when he was with the Red Bulls. Oh right, you don't find your skills until AFTER New York trades you away.

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90th minute– Chicago just looks gassed. Not much hope of a comeback here with three minutes of stoppage time.

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88th minute– Oduro was on a bit of a breakaway run before Ward fouls him from behind. Somewhere, Juan Carlos Osorio breathed a sigh of relief.

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86th minute– Fire running out of time here. And where in the world is Brian McBride? Haven't seen much of him tonight. Between this game and FC Dallas, McBride has hit a bit of a rough patch.

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83rd minute– Mapp with an off-side run but Cameron still runs him down and stuffs it. CAP CAMERON.

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82nd minute– Free header on the back-post from Waibel, but he sends it wide.

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81st minute– Mapp gets a yellow for fouling Holden, who responds by pushing Mapp. Kid's got a temper.

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80th minute– Is that Hainault's natural hair color or did he dye his hair to match the Dynamo uniforms?

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78th minute– Wow, Cameron runs down Nyarko in the open field. Bob Bradley is watching tonight. He has to like what he sees.

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77th minute– Mike Banner comes in for Marco Pappa. Chicago looks spent right now. Not sure the Fire has much left.

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75th minute– Chris Wondolowski in for Kei Kamara.

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71st minute– Holden with a dangerous chance but sends his shot just wide, nice play from Kamara to spring Holden.

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68th minute– WOW. Mapp serves one on a platter to Nyarko, but he can't get a shot off from right in front of goal.

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65th minute– Dominic Oduro comes on for Ade Akinbiyi, and is there any doubt that the former Red Bull will score a goal here?

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64th minute– Justin Mapp comes in for Logan Pause. Look for Thorrington to drop into a defensive midfield role.

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62nd minute– Chicago keeps moving the ball around, but no chances are coming. Houston is doing well to bend but not break.

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55th minute– You know who's been quiet tonight? Akinbiyi. Still waiting to see something from him since signing with Houston.

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53rd minute– Hainault does well to stand up Nyarko. Good game from him tonight.

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52nd minute– Mullan comes in for Ashe.

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51st minute– Pappa has a corner kick grabbed by Onstad. And yes, the Fire has the flares out, what a beautiful sight.

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HALFTIME– Dynamo 1, Fire 0. Houston does well to get an early goal. Chicago dominates play for 30 minutes, but can't put any of its chances through. Solid stuff from Onstad, Cameron and Holden tonight. As for Chicago, Nyarko, Pappa and Rolfe have played well. Not sure what Chicago can do differently. They're playing without four all-star caliber players and still putting on a good show. 

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45th minute– A minute of stoppage as Houston runs down the clock.

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44th minute– Houston will count itself lucky to still be leading heading into halftime. Chicago has dominated play for a good stretch here.

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43rd minute– Chris Rolfe with some SWEET moves, but sends a weak cross in. Nice stuff.

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40th minute– The Fire has been in control the past 10 minutes, creating countless chances.

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36th minute– Gusty save from Mulrooney, who is just back from a broken cheekbone and is wearing a faceguard.

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35th minute– SAVE MULROONEY!!!! Clears a Nyarko header off the line. WOW.

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33rd minute– ONSTAD SAVE!!!! Stops a McBride shot from close range. The 41-year-old stops the 37-year-old. Someone call Ben-Gay.

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30th minute– I know it's still early tonight but it's been pretty mind-boggling to see how inconsistent Chicago has been at Toyota Park over the past two years.

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29th minute– Pappa wastes the kick with a low drive.

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27th minute– Davis fouls Thorrington to draw a good free kick on the right side of the area. Nice run by Thorrington.

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26th minute– Chicago is finding chinks in Houston's defensive armor, but not capitalizing.

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25th minute– The Fire is sending waves at the left flank, going right at Craig Waibel, who is looking like a steak in a dog kennel.

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24th minute– Rolfe SO CLOSE. Man, he had a look in front of goal but sends it high.

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24th minute– Another nice play from Cameron. If nobody has yet, I'm starting the "Call Up Cameron" bandwagon.

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23rd minute– Some good soccer being played, though chances haven't come lately.

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21st minute– Nice-sized group of Dynamo fans who have made it out to Chicago for the MLS-USMNT doubleheader weekend.

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19th minute– Can't help but wonder how many of these players will get serious Gold Cup roster looks. Stuart Holden, Cameron, Brad Davis, Chris Rolfe and Thorrington come to mind.

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15th minute– WOW, what a close miss by Patrick Nyarko, gets in on goal but sends it wide.

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13th minute– Sounds like a good crowd tonight. Hopefully the home team gets as much support in Chicago on Saturday night.

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11th minute– Better stuff from Chicago in the attack. It's their defense you wonder about. I can't see the Fire not creating chances with this lineup.

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6th minute– Cameron and Waibel do well to slow down Nyarko on a hard run. Cameron is enjoying one of the better seasons of any defender in the league. He's quietly worked his way into Gold Cup consideration.

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5th minute– Kei Kamara with the assist, sending a ball into the area to Holden, who beat Logan Pause with a run into the area before beating Busch.

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4th minute- GOAL DYNAMO!!!!!!!! And it's Stuart Holden with the finish. Houston 1, Fire 0.

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3rd minute– And we're off.

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PRE-GAME– Here is Chicago's lineup:

———-McBride—–Nyarko————-

——————-Rolfe——————–

Thorrington————————Pappa

——————–Pause——————

Prideaux—-Robinson–Brown——Ward

——————–Busch——————-

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PRE-GAME– Here is Houston's lineup:

——–Kamara———-Akinbiyi———–

——————Holden———————

Davis————————————Ashe

—————–Mulrooney——————

Hainault—–Boswell—-Cameron—–Waibel

—————–Onstad————————–

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PRE-GAME– Houston is without Ricardo Clark and Brian Ching tonight. Chicago is missing Segares, Blanco and Soumare (and Wilman Conde). Luckily for both teams, they are arguably two of the deepest teams in MLS.

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PRE-GAME– So why am I doing this game? Well, I'm watching it so I figured I could do a commentary. You have to love MLS Direct Kick.

Comments

  1. went to this game- first at toyota park and its a great stadium w/ great fans. too bad the fire weren’t clicking all that well- could’ve used Blanco to open it up a little bit more. as for cameron, i have to say he’s got great feet and plays solid defense, but isn’t he a converted MF since E-Rob got hurt. what is his preferred position? our gold cup roster is going to have to bleed some new players, he might deserve a chance

    Reply
  2. Tim,

    Thank you. Do you have something against homosexuals? Just curious. Being a big homer too me is a complement.

    Posted by: This Guy | June 06, 2009 at 01:22 AM

    This Guy, a “Homer” is a fan of the home team not a homosexual . . .

    Reply
  3. “51st minute- Pappa has a corner kick grabbed by Onstad. And yes, the Fire has the flares out, what a beautiful sight”

    And by Fire you mean, Section 8 😛

    Reply
  4. Tim,

    Thank you. Do you have something against homosexuals? Just curious. Being a big homer too me is a complement.

    Reply
  5. nah. Mapp did a cheap tackle-from-behind. Stu bounced up and shoved him but was mis-directed by a chicago player who held him back a bit.

    not a fight. but Mapp deserved to get clocked. and Ward, not too much later, did the same cheap foul on the Ghanese fiend.

    Reply
  6. Awww This Guy, can you please go kill yourself now that you wont be getting 3 pts. Jesus you are like the biggest homer ever.

    Reply
  7. I dont think Banner did. To be fair, his teammates likely saw him, thought he was a child who had rushed the field, and ignored him.

    Reply
  8. Brian McBride is currently in the pocket of Bobby Boswell.

    And that foul on Oduro… I can’t tell if that was a dive-on-small-contact or… nope replay confirms it was a take down.

    Reply
  9. Oduro listens to Kinnear, gets wide, gets the ball, and is taken down by Ward. Now its Hamlet’s turn to yell into the mic, trying to set Husidic and Thorrington for free kick defense.

    Reply

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