Match Thoughts: New England Revolution vs. Houston Dynamo

Matt Reis makes a save in Saturday's match vs the Houston Dynamo (Getty Images)

You be the judge:  what's the biggest story out of this match,  a major missed opportunity for the New England Revolution or another gutsy performance by a weary Houston Dynamo squad to salvage a late draw?  A case could be made for either point, but it's safe to say that the Dynamo left Gillette Stadium the happier of the two sides.

It was kind of a back and forth affair, and it was definitely a chippy match, with Houston dealing most, but not all of the big hits.  Despite the fact that the Revs were looking for their third straight win at home, Houston looked the better side in the opening minutes.  One couldn't really tell that they had just played on Tuesday.

However, the first of the hits came in the 25th minute, and it was a hit that cost the Dynamo dearly.  Brad Davis plowed over Saer Sene in the area and conceded a penalty kick.  How you manage to run over Sene is beyond me after seeing him in person when the Revs played at Rio Tinto a few weeks back.  The guy is HUGE.  Nevertheless, the Frenchman nailed the spot kick to give the Revs a 1-0 lead.

Everyone in MLS knows that the Dynamo are a big threat on seat pieces with Brad Davis providing the balls in.  According to the Revs announcers, New England paid a lot of attention to set piece defense in practice last week.  You really couldn't tell though.  In the 31st minute Davis sent a ball into the box that Will Bruin managed to head home to make the match 1-1.

The second half got even more chippy and the yellow cards started flying.  Both teams tried to attack, but it was the Revolution who got on the board next.  In the 57th minute Sene swiped the ball from Geoff Cameron and streaked up the field, nailing the ball past Tally Hall to make it 2-1 Revs.

It looked like New England would hang on, even as the Dynamo applied a ton of pressure late on.  The pressure paid off for the men in orange in the 87th minute.  Brian Ching and Luiz Carmago put together a nice 1-2 around the Revs area.  The end result was Ching flicking a pass over the Revs defense which Carmago knocked past Reis to equalize the match at 2-2, which was the full time result.  Houston's perseverance paid off, and the Revs were left to rue dropped points at home, miring them in 5th place in the East.