Dynamo earn point in CCL draw with Árabe Unido

Houston now 1-0-1 in Group A of CONCACAF Champions League

The Dynamo opened the game with an inexperienced lineup that included nine players with less than four years of professional experience and third-year midfielder Corey Ashe wearing the captain's armband for the first time in his career. The early minutes set the tone for the game, as team picked up a yellow card.

In the 11th minute, Árabe Unido defender David Daniels, filling in for the suspended Nahil Carroll, was shown a straight red card for a tackle from behind on Houston's Kei Kamara, giving the Dynamo a one-man advantage. Árabe Unido actually came up with the next good chance, as Omar Camargo almost caught Dynamo goalkeeper Tally Hall off his line on a free kick expecting a cross, but Hall recovered to tip the ball over the crossbar. The Dynamo's best chance to take the lead came in the 34th minute, when rookie Danny Cruz whipped in a cross from the right, but Kamara's header bounced wide.

Houston head coach Dominic Kinnear brought on Stuart Holden at halftime for Geoff Cameron, hoping Holden could create a goal just as he did one week ago against Isidro Metapán. Things turned ugly soon, however, when Ashe sent in a cross and collided with Árabe Unido's Andres Santamaria. After a considerable delay that saw Santamaria and his teammates begging for Ashe to be shown a card, referee Neal Brizan ejected Ashe, leveling the teams at 10 men apiece.

Things turned again in the 67th minute, when Carmago clotheslined Dominic Oduro and was shown his second yellow card of the game, reducing Árabe Unido to nine men, including only two defenders. The Dynamo took advantage just two minutes later on a long clearance out of the back that was misplayed by Santamaria. Kamara raced onto the ball and was in alone against goalkeeper Carlos Bejarano, beating the Colombian with a powerful shot straight up the middle.

Árabe Unido came back right away with a chance from a free kick, but Hall saved Angel Rodriguez's shot easily. The Dynamo looked like they were headed for their first ever road win outside of the United States, but things turned ugly in the final 10 minutes. First, defender Andrew Hainault was shown his second yellow card of the game and ejected in the 81st minute.

Now in a 9 v. 9 game, Árabe Unido continued to press for the equalizer. In the 85th minute, tricky midfielder Jose Justavino juked into the box and laid a pass off for captain Orlando Rodriguez, but his shot at full stretch trickled wide. On the way upfield, Holden - who had taken the captain's armband from Ashe -- received first one and then another yellow card, apparently for dissent, within seconds of each other and was ejected for the first time in his career.

Now with a one-man advantage of their own, Árabe Unido finally capitalized in the first minute of five minutes of stoppage time, as Justavino again broke into the box and, with the ball bouncing high on the artificial turf, volleyed the ball across the six-yard box, where Orlando Rodriguez headed it in to tie the score. The goal ignited mass celebrations in the crowd of roughly 2,500 and prompted the largest of several incidents of drinks and objects being thrown onto the field.

As the teams searched for a winning goal, the stadium lights -- which had flickered briefly a few minutes earlier -- went out completely, plunging the stadium into darkness. After a delay of more than 12 minutes during which fans held up cell phones and Dynamo players worried fans might come onto the field, play finally continued with less than half of the floodlights working, and full time finally came more than 20 minutes after the 90-minute mark.

The tie left both teams 1-0-1 in Group A of the CONCACAF Champions League, tied for the group lead. But the craziness continued after the final whistle, with the Dynamo remaining on the field until the stands were cleared. Once they reached the locker room, the stadium's power went out again, and the Dynamo spent almost 20 minutes in the dark before making their way to the bus and back to Panama City.

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