CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (April 23, 2011) The Houston Dynamo extended their unbeaten streak to five MLS games and their road unbeaten streak to six games with a come-from-behind 1-1 tie against the Chicago Fire Saturday night in Bridgeview, Ill. Defender Bobby Boswell scored the game-tying goal in the 83rd minute to give Houston a deserved road point. The Dynamo are now tied for third place in the Eastern Conference, trailing first-place New York by two points.
Houston returns to action with back-to-back home games, hosting D.C. United in a nationally-televised Orange Out Friday night game this week and then taking on defending MLS Cup champion Colorado on Wednesday, May 4.
Although the Dynamo controlled outshot the Fire 15-11 and controlled 61 percent of possession, Chicago struck first in the 18th minute. After Houston appeared to break up a counterattack, Fire midfielder Marco Pappa, while on the ground, flicked a pass into the penalty area, where forward Diego Chaves ran onto the ball and scored his fourth goal of the season.
Houston pressured Chicago throughout the first half, forcing eight corner kicks, but did not get a shot on goal. Early in the second half, both teams came close with shots, as Houston’s Lovel Palmer fired off the post from long range in the 47th minute and Chicago’s Dominic Oduro rang the crossbar in the 66th minute.
The Dynamo found a tying goal in the 83rd minute on their 10th corner kick of the night when Brad Davis played the ball toward the far post and defender Bobby Boswell met it with a header that nestled just inside the opposite post to tie the game. The goal was Boswell’s second of the season, the second-highest total of his career after he netted three as a rookie in 2006.
The dramatic goal came almost three years after Boswell scored the game-winning goal for Houston at Chicago on an 85th-minute header in May 2008. For Davis, the assist was his fourth of the season, second in MLS behind Vancouver’s Davide Chiumiento (5).
The match included seven minutes of stoppage time at the end of the second half due to several injuries and delays, including a clash of heads between Houston’s Cam Weaver and Chicago’s Yamith Cuesta. Both players returned to and completed the match.
With the tie, Houston extended its road unbeaten streak to six games (2-0-4), including all three away games in 2011 by a 1-1 margin. The club record for road unbeaten streak is seven games, set in the team’s inaugural season of 2006. The Dynamo are now unbeaten in five consecutive games overall (2-0-3) and 3-1-2 all-time at Toyota Park.
Jamaican international midfielder Je-Vaughn Watson entered the match as a substitute in the 78th minute, making his Dynamo and MLS debut.
Dynamo midfielder Geoff Cameron played his 100th game for the Dynamo in all competitions, becoming the 14th player in club history to reach that milestone. Defender Corey Ashe moved into a tie for fifth place in club history by appearing in his 140th game, tying assistant coach Wade Barrett.
Midfielder Brad Davis made the 190th start of his MLS career, defender Bobby Boswell played in his 170th career MLS game, defender Hunter Freeman played in the 90th game of his MLS career, midfielder Lovel Palmer made his 35th start for Houston in all competitions, and midfielder Danny Cruz made his 25th start for the Dynamo in all competitions.
The Dynamo played without forwards Calen Carr (concussion), Brian Ching (rib separation), and Sergio Koke (visa); midfielder Francisco Navas Cobo (hamstring); and defender Jermaine Taylor (foot sprain).
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