The Houston Dynamo played nearly two-thirds of the match with a man advantage and cruised to a 3-0 victory over the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday night. Luis Ángel Landín had a goal and an assist, Brian Mullan bagged his first goal of the season, and rookie Sammy Appiah added Houston’s third on his professional debut.
Houston, however, should have been down a goal early when the Wizards’ Kei Kamara went one-on-one with goalkeeper Pat Onstad, but the former Dynamo forward could only hit the side netting.
In the 24th minute, Houston broke on a counterattack and got the early lead. Two Wizards defenders collided, leaving Landín to find Dominic Oduro with a pass. Oduro drove in on goal and dropped the ball into the path of Landín, who lifted his shot over Wizards goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen from a tight angle.
In the 33rd minute, a red card to Wizards midfielder Davy Arnaud provided Houston with a man advantage. The Nederland, Texas native raced for a loose ball that was headed for Onstad. However, the Houston goalkeeper was first to it, and Arnaud made contact with Onstad’s hand. Referee Terry Vaughn erred on the side of protecting the goalkeeper and immediately gave Arnaud a red.
With the man advantage, Houston continued to press the attack through the remainder of the first half and into the second. Early in the second half, Landín earned a turnover and immediately released the ball wide to Brian Mullan, who ripped a shot from just inside the box and into the net to give the Dynamo a 2-0 lead. It was Mullan's first goal since August 31, 2008.
Houston relentlessly continued the pressure, and in the 59th minute Oduro and Landín each had an opportunity to extend the lead, but Oduro was denied by the post and Landín by a great recovery save from Nielsen.
In the 70th minute, Landín suffered a hard foul and had to exit with a left ankle injury. He was replaced by midfielder Sammy Appiah, who was making his professional debut. The rookie midfielder from Ghana and Boston University iced the game for the Dynamo in the 88th minute when he collected Oduro’s assist and placed his shot perfectly inside the post.
Kansas City Wizards (2-2-1) vs. Houston Dynamo (3-2-1)
May 01, 2010 –- Robertson Stadium, Houston, TX
Scoring Summary:
HOU -- Luis Landín 1 (Dominic Oduro 2) 24
HOU -- Brian Mullan 1 (Luis Landín 1) 52
HOU -- Sammy Appiah 1 (Dominic Oduro 3, Adrian Serioux 1) 88
Kansas City Wizards -- Jimmy Nielsen, Michael Harrington, Matt Besler, Pablo Escobar, Roger Espinoza (Chance Myers 54), Stephane Auvray, Davy Arnaud, Jack Jewsbury, Josh Wolff, Kei Kamara (Craig Rocastle 46), Ryan Smith (Teal Bunbury 72).
Substitutes Not Used: Eric Kronberg, Birahim Diop, Santiago Hirsig, Aaron Hohlbein.
Houston Dynamo -- Pat Onstad, Andrew Hainault, Bobby Boswell, Eddie Robinson (Ryan Cochrane 88), Mike Chabala, Brian Mullan, Lovel Palmer, Brad Davis, Corey Ashe (Adrian Serioux 85), Dominic Oduro, Luis Angel Landín (Sammy Appiah 71).
Substitutes Not Used: Tally Hall, Richard Mulrooney, Francisco Navas Cobo, Craig Waibel.
Misconduct Summary:
KC -- Matt Besler (caution; Reckless Tackle) 16
KC -- Davy Arnaud (ejection; Serious Foul Play) 33
KC -- Stephane Auvray (cation; Reckless Tackle) 56
HOU -- Lovel Palmer (caution; Reckless Foul) 64
KC -- Craig Rocastle (caution; Reckless Tackle) 70
gameSumLabel">Referee: Terry Vaughn
gameSumLabel">Referee's Assistants: Greg Barkey; Jason Cullum
gameSumLabel">4th official: Alejandro Mariscal
gameSumLabel">Attendance: 16,042
Weather: Cloudy and 76 degrees
All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial
