With Brad Davis unavailable due to injury, the Houston starting lineup looked peculiar as Joseph Ngwenya was forced to play the uncustomary role of midfielder. The move also meant that Brian Mullan would start next to Brian Ching at forward – a position that he has played on occasion. The makeshift midfield battled well and had moments but were often overrun and they often gave away too much space to Toronto’s marquee players Dwayne De Rosario and Julian de Guzman. However, the Reds’ buildup often faltered at the final ball and the defense absorbed most of the pressure for most of the game. Neither team created many opportunities until late in the first half when Pat Onstad made a stellar save on a de Guzman shot from distance.

The tempo picked up in the second half and poor officiating kept the Dynamo from taking the lead. After running on to a ball from defender Bobby Boswell, Mullan beat his man, scoring past Toronto’s goalie Stefan Frei. The linesman raised his flag for offside and replays showed proof to the contrary. In fact, Mullan was about 3 yards onside when the pass was initially played. Look for this linesman to get a call up for the 2014 World Cup.

Intensity increased a few minutes later as Ngwenya took issue with the whistle activity from Toronto FC and fisticuffs broke out – a lot of flailing and slapping without much contact. Once the dust settled, Ngwenya and de Guzman were shown straight reds, leaving each team down a man.

In the 73rd minute, the Orange gained the lead they should have already had. Ching popped up to score off a Danny Cruz corner, giving the Hawaiian his third goal of the season. Midfielder Lovel Palmer nearly made it 2-0 mere minutes later with one of his patented bombs from outside the box but Frei made a tremendous save to keep the Reds in the game. With the match drawing to a close and Toronto increasing pressure on the Dynamo defense, Onstad made a spectacular save himself as he denied former teammate De Rosario the game-tying goal in the 83rd min.

Toronto would get their equalizer off the ensuing corner and Houston’s suspect defending would be the culprit yet again. A completely unmarked Dan Gargan crept in at the far post and headed the ball across the face of goal into the back of the net. While pushing hard for their second goal, all Toronto got was a second red.

In some ways, the 1-1 was not a satisfying result. Had the linesman not completely missed his offside call or if the Dynamo had not missed their defensive assignments on Toronto’s corner, they may have won 2-1 or 1-0. But looking at the game in total, it’s hard to say that Toronto didn’t deserve a draw if for no other reason than that they looked more threatening for the majority of the game. And truth be told, the Dynamo defense absorbed a lot of pressure for the majority of the game as their midfield wasn’t helping them out too much. A road win could have been the perfect tonic for the Dynamo’s illness. The team and its fans should take heart from a road draw and an improved defensive performance.

The Men in Orange return to the field tonight as they take on Chivas USA in US Open Cup play at Robertson. Game time is set for 7 p.m. Their next regular season match is on Sat., July 10 against the Columbus Crew.