The new home of the Houston Dynamo: BBVA Compass Stadium (Getty Images)
It looked like the star of this match was going to be Houston's brand new stadium, that is until one Brad Davis showed up. His second half strike helped the Dynamo open their stadium in style, leading them to a 1-0 win over Eastern Conference foe DC United.
Despite a somewhat tentative start from both teams, it was clear throughout the match that the Dynamo were the side in the ascendency. The more the match wore on, the more the Houston heat took effect on both clubs, but more so on DC United. DC did have a chance in minute 13, but Maicon Santos saw his shot go wide.
After that it was pretty much all Dynamo, with Bill Hamid turning in a great performance to keep United in the match. Houston had a couple of good chances before the break, as Bobby Boswell missed a shot in the 36th, and Je-vaughn Watson put a shot over the bar in stoppage time to keep the score 0-0 going into half time.
Davis's goal of the week candidate strike came in the 67th minute. He took a ball from André Hainault and blasted a shot toward the goal from thirty plus yards. Hamid jumped to his left at full stretch but couldn't get to the ball as it nestled in the net to give the Dynamo a 1-0 lead.
After that about the only thing the Dynamo faithful could ask for was a goal from their Captain, Brian Ching. The beloved striker was somewhat controversially reattained from Montreal after being lost in the expansion draft, but it's clear his home really is in Houston. He tried his best to add to Houston's goal tally, but just couldn't quite do it. Hamid saved a close up effort in the 76th and he missed the target in the 77th. He left the match in the 84th minute to a standing ovation. In the end, the Dynamo would take it as they held on for the 1-0 victory.
NOTES: Ching had reason to hope for a goal. When Houston played their first match at Robertson Stadium in 2006, he scored 4 goals. The win snaps a five game winless spell for the Dynamo, that included a loss at DC United a couple of weeks back. For United, the biggest talking point was an injury to Perry Kitchen, who left the match in the first half with an ankle injury. However, an MRI came back negative and he is listed as questionable for DC's next match against the Rapids.
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