“It’s been the same person every game.” This was Dynamo midfielder Brad Davis’ answer when asked about the bad blood in the rivalry with FC Dallas postgame. The person Davis is referring to is FC Dallas defender Jair Benitez who was sent off in the 63rd minute, giving the Dynamo a man advantage and an eventual 2-1 win at BBVA Compass Stadium Saturday night. The win gave the Dynamo possession of El Capitan, the cannon given to the winner of the rivalry each season.
Benitez elbowed Dynamo midfielder Colin Clark in the head. Referee Jair Maruffo did not see the incident but was called over by his AR as Clark was still down on the ground from the contact. Maruffo showed Benitez the red card and the sides came together for some “handbags” as they say in the football world. Defender Jermaine Taylor put Dallas captain Daniel Hernandez in a headlock (but did not spit on him) and a few other players exchanged pushes and shoves.
The Dynamo were on the attack looking for a winner after going a man up and it was Scotsman Adam Moffat who delivered. The Dynamo earned a corner in the 76th minute and Brad Davis delivery was swatted away by Dallas keep Kevin Hartman. Hartman’s clearance landed at the feet of Moffat who took a touch and then ripped a volley through a sea of players and into the side netting, sending the home crowd into frenzy.
The Dynamo opened the scoring in the 3rd minute when Will Bruin got in behind the defense. He wasn’t able to control the ball completely with his first touch but the defender’s clearance hit Bruin in the knee and bounced into the goal. The “Dancing Bear” leads the Dynamo with 6 goals on the season and the second year player has been in great form of late. With Brian Ching still struggling to find the net, and looking more and more frustrated because of it, Bruin has carried the Dynamo offense. His knack for being in great positions is set up by his excellent runs off the ball and being able to hold up play to get the midfield involved. He may be the most underrated forward in MLS.
The Dallas equalizer came on a bit of a fluke. Jermaine Taylor blocked a shot from Scott Sealy and the ball fell to the feet of Jackson to put into an empty net. The net was empty because keeper Tally Hall dove to his right on Sealy’s initial shot and was unable to get back into position to stop the goal. Jackson did turn a few Dynamo would be defenders into traffic cones as he worked his way towards the box so the goal wasn’t totally out of nowhere.
With FC Dallas missing 6 starters and down to 10 men in the second half the Dynamo probably should have done much better than 2-1 but 3 points is 3 points. Coach Dominic Kinnear said in his postgame news conference, “The most important thing is the result and we won the game tonight, so for that I’m very pleased.” I couldn’t have said it much better myself. Oh, and beating Dallas is always fun too.
The Dynamo have a short week this week as they host Toronto FC on Wednesday night at BBVA Compass Stadium. I’ll have a preview for the match early Wednesday but we know a few of the Toronto players haven’t exactly enjoyed their stay in Houston this week.
(image courtesy of Getty Images)
