Friday, November 02, 2007

Dynamo Advances

FC Dallas continued its history of stumbling through the MLS postseason, blowing a second half two goal aggregate lead in a 4-2 ET aggregate loss to the defending champion Houston Dynamo. This intra-state rivalry continues to get chippier and chippier with each passing fixture as today's outing resembled a rugby match, with Arturo Alvarez being sent off for kicking Brad Davis, and several other yellow cards being issued for violent conduct. Keep in mind Rico Clark of Houston is serving an MLS record suspension for kicking Carlos Ruiz last month when the two teams met.

Steve Morrow has to be complimented however for his tactical approach to the match which saw FC Dallas in control before Alvarez's sending off. Denilson in what will probably be his last game in MLS played fairly well until being replaced by Pablo Richetti after Alvarez was sent off.

So FC Dallas, one of the most consistent winning franchises in MLS history still only has one piece of silverware: the 1997 US Open Cup to show for its success. We'll see if this changes next year.

PODCAST NOTES:

  • Episode 31 of the podcast is now online. It features a now dated preview of the FC Dallas-Houston match with Bryan Zygo of the World Soccer Wrap podcast, and a look back at the epic Chicago-DC United match from Thursday night.
  • Episode 32 featuring a wrap up of all the first round playoff series will be available late Monday afternoon.
  • Episode 33 featuring a look at Americans playing on the European continent with correspondent Mario Valdez will be available late Thursday or early Friday.

6 comments:

Michael said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Michael said...

Just as a point of accuracy, and I can tell you this as a certified referee myself, the yellow cards issued weren't for "violent conduct". Violent conduct warrants a straight red card according to FIFA's Laws of the Game, which are of course used in MLS and in other domestic leagues throughout the world.

I didn't see the game myself, but it seems more likely that in the situation you described, they were issued for "unsporting behavior", which is what most yellow cards are awarded for.

Kartik said...

Good point MJ. The wasn't right choice of words by me. The conduct was violent by both sets of players but the refs did clearly see it as "unsporting behavior."

Anonymous said...

I really think the ref lost control of the match and could have easily sent off a Dynamo player or two before Alvarez was sent off. They kept needling Ruiz and one of those guys had to be shown red, but since they weren't Houston continued the dirty cheap shots all the way to victory.

Anonymous said...

No explanation needed for this game. The Hoops are just cursed. Period. End of story. They are the old Red Sox of MLS.

Anonymous said...

Houston is winning the title again.