TORONTO FC STILL UNDEFEATED ON CURRENT ROAD TRIP AFTER 0-0 DRAW WITH DEFENDING CHAMPS
Toronto FC played their fifth straight game on the road and turned up with another point as they finished in a scoreless draw at Robertson Stadium against the Houston Dynamo.
Houston came out strong as expected and had their first big chance in the 4th minute as Joseph Ngwenya played a cross into the six yard box there was some scrambling to clear it, Brian Ching ended up with it at his feet managing a shot on goal that was saved by Srdjan Djekanovic. The keeper getting yet another start in the Toronto goal as Greg Sutton did not make the trip still recovering from a concussion suffered in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
MLS All Star selection Ronnie O¹Brien broke through in the 11th minute and found some space, taking aim from about 25 yards out that ball just bouncing wide of Pat Onstad’s goal.
Moments later, Houston was back at it Craig Waibel floated a nice ball into the area, Ching got his head on it but it was just wide, 5 minutes later Ngwenya was disallowed a goal, called offside by officials.
The Dynamo were unlucky not to get on the board in the 32nd minute as Ching threatening againŠbut his low blast hitting the far post and staying out to keep it scoreless.
Toronto went down to 10 men 3 minutes before the half ended as Maurice Edu was involved in a mid-air collision with Brian Mullan. The referee hesitated on issuing the red card for Edu but Mullan was down for some time after taking a shot to the face. He did return to the game but was substituted at the start of the second half as former TFC player Richard Mulrooney came in to take his place. Edu will now miss Toronto’s next game in Columbus as he serves a one game suspension.
The Dynamo dominated the second half in the 61st , Ricardo Clark with a looping volley from just inside the area, showing nice control but his shot a bit off target.
65th, Stuart Holden hits the post as well from the angle, he had another chance in the 69th, cutting back inside after making a move on his man – but his shot was right into the arms of Djekanovic. Houston continued to pour on the pressure, but could not find a way to score. When the 77th minute passed, the Dynamo established a new MLS record for the longest shutout streak, at 682 minutes. The previous record was held by Kansas City in 2000.
Toronto picks up their 6th point in the month of July since leaving BMO Field, and will wrap up their road trip next Sunday when they travel to Ohio to face the Columbus Crew for the second time this season.
The team returns to Toronto late Monday afternoon.
TORONTO FC 0-0 HOUSTON DYNAMO
Statistical Game Summary, Robertson Stadium, Houston, TX
Houston Dynamo (10-5-3) Pat Onstad, Craig Waibel, Patrick Ianni, Eddie Robinson (Chris Wondolowski 86), Wade Barrett, Ricardo Clark, Dwayne De Rosario, Stuart Holden, Brian Mullan (Richard Mulrooney 46), Brian Ching, Joseph Ngwenya (Nate Jaqua 60)
Subs not used: Mike Chabala, Paul Dalglish, Nick Hatzke, Zach Wells
Toronto FC (5-7-4) Srdjan Djekanovic , Andrew Boyens, Marvell Wynne, Todd Dunivant, Tyrone Marshall, Jim Brennan, Ronnie O’Brien, Carl Robinson, Maurice Edu, Collin Samuel (Andrea Lombardo 56), Danny Dichio (Chris Pozniak 44)
Subs not used: Adam Braz, Jeff Cunningham, Marco Reda, Boris Pardo, Andy Welsh
Scoring Summary:
None
Referee: Abiodun Okulaja
Assistants: Steven Taylor, Thomas Supple
Fourth Official: Oscar Ortiz
Attendance: 11,114
Temperature: Cloudy, 83 degrees
Time of Game: 1:55
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