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It's a generally accepted rule that when things looks their darkest, a hero will rise. Tonight in Washington, D.C. the Dynamo's hero rose in the 89th minute in the form of Brian Ching whose goal help save Houston from another disappointing loss.
After Will Bruin hit the post and Danny Cruz missed a wide open net early in the second half, the deck appeared stacked against Houston when Charlies Davies put United ahead 2-1 in the XX minute. Up to that point of the half, Houston had dominated play and you had the sinking feeling that this was going to be another one of those games where Houston played good enough to win but couldn't find the back of the net when it counted.
Then Brian Ching scored and Dynamo fans collectively exhaled. Credit to Colin Clark for making a great cross from the left wing to find Ching trailing the play. The Big Kahuna got way up in the air, completely unmarked, and buried a header past Hamid who was caught flat footed on the play.
Ching helped create Houston's first goal, drawing enough contact from DC United goalkeeper Bill Hamid to earn a penalty kick that Brad Davis converted. It was a stark reminder of how important Ching is to this team, for better or worse.
Houston remains win less on the road this season, but they've gotten points in five of their eight road matches so you really can't be to upset about those numbers. The struggles at home are what's really holding this team back, but for tonight we'll avoid that topic.
Let us enjoy the fact that this team at least has the ability to fight back, most of the time, and right now that's enough to keep them afloat in the mediocre Eastern Conference.
It was such a busy night of soccer, I really need to re-watch the Dynamo game with a little more attention and see what I missed in the details. I'll take a point on the road and ride off in to the sunset...or something. We can argue Monday about whether the Dynamo's poor finishing should actually qualify this result as a bad draw. Let's enjoy the greatness of Ching for tonight.