Chivas rally falls short against Dynamo

Team finishes fourth in West, will face Los Angeles in first round

The result leaves Chivas USA fourth in the Western Conference, which sets up a juicy first-round playoff matchup against their in-stadium rivals, the Los Angeles Galaxy. The Red-and-White will play host the first leg of the two-legged SuperClásico playoff series on Sunday afternoon at The Home Depot Center.

Needing a win against the Dynamo to secure second place in the West, Chivas USA charged out of the gate in the game's opening minutes. Lead by strong play in the attack from Sacha Kljestan and Justin Braun, the Red-and-White twice tested Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad within the first seven minutes.

In both cases it was Kljestan supplying a good pass for Braun, who came closest in the fifth minute on a breakway shot that was tipped wide by the Houston goalkeeper at the last moment.

Houston began to find their footing as the game hit the quarter-hour mark, but Chivas USA continued to control the tempo of the game. Lahoud and Paulo Nagamura were able to break up much of the Dynamo attack in central midfield while Braun and Kljestan maintained a potent attack up front. Maicon Santos made his presence felt in the 20th minute when Braun fed him a nice through ball that again forced a quick save from Onstad to keep the score at 0-0.

Any momentum the Red-and-White had was squelched in the 26th minute when Houston opening the scoring. Brad Davis lined up for a corner kick and sent a curling cross into the box that found the head of Stuart Holden. Holden knocked the ball back across the goalmouth and into the path of Andrew Hainault, who headed past Zach Thornton to put Houston ahead 1-0.

The Dynamo scored again just three minutes later. After a few quick touches in the midfield, Davis chipped a short ball through the Chivas USA defense and into the path of Dominic Oduro. Oduro streaked toward net and tucked a low shot past Thornton to double Houston's lead.

Chivas USA began pushing back in the final minutes of the first half, holding the ball well through the midfield while they looked for holes in a swarming Houston defense. The best chance for the home side came in the 41st minute, when Paulo Nagamura beat his man on the right side and sent the ball through the box. The effort was just a step too far ahead of Maicon Santos, who would have been looking at an open net had he gotten to the ball.

Houston picked up in the second half what they had started in the first, scoring again within seven minutes of the restart. Chasing down a long ball from the midfield, Oduro raced toward the right corner of the Chivas USA area. He sent a quick pass along the ground that found Geoff Cameron at the top of the 18-yard-line, who shot hard toward the right post. His effort was headed out of bounds until Houston substitute Abe Thompson redirected it into the net for a 3-0 lead Dynamo lead in the 52nd minute.

Chivas USA finally got one back at the hour mark. Justin Braun streaked down the right side of the midfield and beat his man to send a low ball along the top of Houston 6-yard box. Nagamura got onto the end of it, one-touching a pass to Lahoud, who slammed home his first career MLS goal to put the Red-and-White on the board.

Buoyed by the goal and the additions of substitutes Lillingston, Marcelo Saragosa and Jorge Flores, Chivas USA continued to pound the Houston area. The team looked like it had scored a second goal in the 74th minute when Lillingston touched in a Kljestan pass, but the effort was ruled offside.

The Red-and-White hit for their second goal in the 87th minute when Lillington converted a penalty kick. The penalty came after Flores was taken down in the box by Hainault on the left side of the area. Lillingston stepped up and calmly blasted the ball into the top left corner of Onstad's net to move Chivas to within 3-2.

Chivas USA continued to pound the Houston area in the game's closing minutes, but were unable to find an equalizer, and in doing so fixed a first-ever playoff date with their SuperClásico rivals.

Jeffrey King is a contributor to MLSnet.com.

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