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Dynamo punish Sporting KC on a rainy night at Sporting Park

CRAZY SKY SKC-HOU (Peter Aiken USA Today)

Photo by Peter Aiken/USA Today Sports

By TATE STEINLAGE 

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Forty minutes into a long and dreary weather delay Friday, the ominous skies above Sporting Park lightened. The color? Orange.

It was a case of foreshadowing.

The Houston Dynamo overcame a 77-minute delay and a Sporting Kansas City equalizer to snap a seven-game road losing streak with a 3-1 victory over their Eastern Conference rival.

Dom Dwyer erased a 1-0 deficit before the hour mark after Will Bruin put the Dynamo up initially, but Houston, led by the left foot of Brad Davis, scored twice in the remaining half hour to see Sporting KC’s recent defensive woes continue.

“When they came back into the game, obviously they were carrying a lot of momentum,” Houston Dynamo manager Dominic Kinnear said. “Sometimes it does take a set piece to put your nose ahead. We got two of them so it was good, and we withstood some pressure there. Taking advantage of set pieces and the way Brad (Davis) spins the ball in was obviously very important for us tonight.”

After a calm and collected start prior to the delay, the Dynamo put themselves ahead with a goal from Bruin in the 35th minute. Sporting KC defender Aurelien Collin botched an attempted clearance at the top of the 18-yard box, leaving Bruin open for the easy finish.

The goal penciled Bruin into the Dynamo record books as just the second player in club history to score double-digit goals in multiple seasons. Rather than celebrate, however, Bruin went to the ground with an apparent leg injury. He would be forced to sub off five minutes later.

Nearing halftime, a sequence in front of the Dynamo’s goal left Sporting KC midfielder Benny Feilhaber on the ground, sparking the cries of the home crowd. Replay evidence showed that Feilhaber pushed Kofi Sarkodie first, but the matter of who pushed who was irrelevant by then. The two teams rushed in aid of their players, including Dom Dwyer, Collin, and Giles Barnes, resulting in two yellow cards, one each to Sarkodie and Feilhaber.

The tension subsided following the halftime break, but the goals did not. A beautiful one-two, dribble-pass effort by Benny Feilhaber set Dwyer up for a goal in the 55th minute.

Houston’s response came seven minutes later. A poor foul outside the penalty area set Davis up with a cross to Horst. The defender rose up and smashed a header past Sporting KC goalkeeper Jon Kempin, giving the Dynamo a 2-1 advantage.

Just five minutes after the second goal, on a mirrored set piece, Davis connected with midfielder Ricardo Clark to put the contest out of hand and send the crowd home with a second disappointing home loss in as many matches.

“We needed this win no matter where we playing, whether it was home or away,” Kinnear said. “We’re just happy to get three points.”

With the result, the Houston Dynamo improve to 8-13-4 on the season. They’ll look to extend their wining streak next Saturday at home against the Montreal Impact. Sporting KC fall to 12-8-6 on the year after giving up three goals for the second match in a row. The defending champions will attempt to break its losing streak Wednesday in New England against Jermain Jones and the Revolution.

Watch the highlights below:

Comments

  1. It’s miserable watching Peter Vermes whine for 90 minutes every SKC game I watch… He sets a horrible example for how youth players/coaches should treat officials.. I know he isn’t the only offender (far from it) but he is just awful.

    Some SKC players are the same way too… Feilhaber especially… just a constant barrage of whining if anything doesn’t go his way.. its disgraceful

    Reply
    • You could say the same for his counter part in this game. Kinnear is just as much a whiner.

      The game was a bit out of control, Geiger did ok with what was going on but he waited too long to get the physical play under control.

      Reply
      • I’ve seen a lot of both Kinnear and Vermes over the years… Kinnear is no saint but almost every game I’ve seen of Vermes he is just constantly in the officials ears… he is a horrible offender.. every time the camera pans to Vermes he either looks like a vein is about to blow or is actively complaining.

        SKC (players,coaches and fans) are the worst in MLS by far.

      • Vermes is the worst. I can’t remember a game his team lost where he didn’t blame someone other than himself or his team. The worst. I don’t really have a problem with any SKC players.

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