CANCUN, Mexico -- The Houston Dynamo conceded a pair of first-half goals to Atlante FC on Tuesday night, en route to a 3-0 defeat at Estadio Andres Quintana Roo. The Dynamo fell 4-1 on aggregate and were eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions League in the quarterfinal round.
Atlante FC become the first team to advance to the semifinals of CONCACAF Champions League play, and the Mexican Primera Division squad will meet either the Montreal Impact of the United Soccer League First Division, or Honduran champions CD Marathon in the next round.
Houston is the latest victim in an unfortunate streak for Major League Soccer clubs, who have yet to win a match on Mexican soil.
Things went sour inside of a half hour for the Dynamo, the lone MLS squad to advance to the knockout stages. Following a foul by Ricardo Clark in the midfield, Atlante goalkeeper Federico Villar found Fernando Navarro with a long-driven free kick.
The 19-year-old beat Houston defender Wade Barrett, headed the ball down and then chipped it over Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad from inside the six-yard box to give the hosts a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute.
Just 13 minutes later Atlante, who played the Dynamo to a 1-1 draw last week at Robertson Stadium, added a second goal when Houston defender Craig Waibel mistimed a header from an Atlante service into the box, giving Rafael Marquez Lugo space to put his open header from the penalty spot over Onstad's left shoulder to give the home team a 2-0 lead.
Waibel was the lone change to Dominic Kinnear's squad from the first leg, replacing Bobby Boswell (tonsils), who scored the lone goal for Houston in the opener.
Waibel, though, was off at halftime, one of two changes for the start of the second half. Geoff Cameron and Corey Ashe came on and Barrett also came off, with Kinnear desperate for a more aggressive attack in the final 45 minutes.
Giancarlo Maldonado closed the game out for Atlante with a 90th minute goal. Colombian Luis Gabriel Rey dribbled through three Houston players near the right-corner flag and crossed the ball to Maldonado. The Venezuelan striker took the ball off his chest and unleashed a rocket from eight yards out under the crossbar and into the net to book Atlante's ticket to the semifinal round.
The Dynamo did have some scoring chances. In the 11th minute, Kei Kamara played a quality ball to Brian Mullan, who couldn't connect with a sliding Brad Davis at the back post.
Seven minutes later, Mullan's hard work on the right side led to the Dynamo's first corner kick, but Houston found nothing to show for it.
In the 21st minute, Mullan's little chip between two defenders found Kamara down the right. He cut the ball back inside the six-yard box, but an Atlante defender cleared the ball before Kamara could manage a shot. Five minutes later, Brian Ching was open in front of the goal, but Davis played the ball behind the big Hawaiian.
In the 67th minute, Ashe found Kamara, but he was called for a foul as his header sailed over the crossbar. Three minutes later, Davis played his free kick through traffic. The ball deflected off an Atlante player and out for a corner, one of five for Dynamo on the night.
Clark couldn't put his header on frame in the 71st minute and six minutes later Ching headed Ashe's touchline service wide at the far post.
Kinnear made his final change six minutes from full time, bringing on Chris Wondolowski for Mullan.
Atlante, one of three Mexican sides remaining in the inaugural competition, earned a measure of revenge against Houston. In last summer's SuperLiga, Dynamo claimed a 4-0 victory at Robertson Stadium.
No comments:
Post a Comment