So Dynamo beat Monterrey tonight 3-0 in what was an all-too-predictable slugfest. Here are three links to game stories that detail the carnage:
Houston Chronicle: Friendly turns ugly as Dynamo rout Monterrey 3-0 (This was has a nifty photo gallery on it with images from Chron photog Smiley Pool.) My favorite takeaway from this piece is a comment about Monterrey from Geoff Cameron, who was playing centerback (Sigh) with Andre Hainault on international duty: "We know what they're all about." Yes we do Geoff. Yes we do.
Houston Dynamo: Dynamo beat Monterrey before large crowd (Read the comments about fans getting pelted by beer and whatnot from Monterrey supporters.)
And then finally, here's the press release from Dynamo about the match, which was pretty restrained if you ask me.
Monterrey vs. Houston Dynamo
September 04, 2011 -- Robertson Stadium
Attendance: 28,440Goals by Period 1 2 Tot
Monterrey 0 0 0
Houston Dynamo 2 1 3Scoring Summary:
HOU -- Cam Weaver (unassisted) 12
HOU -- Brad Davis (penalty kick) 23
HOU -- Jason Garey (Brad Davis) 70Monterrey -- Jonathan Orozco (Juan de Dios Ibarra 46), Severo Meza (Eduardo Guevara 77), José María Basanta, Ricardo Osorio (Oscar García 63), César Delgado (Cesar Francisco de la Peña 46), Miguel Morales, Luis Ernesto Pérez, Neri Cardozo (Marvin Piñon 46), Sergio Santana (Marcelo Cazaubón 77), Humberto Suazo, Darío Carreño (Jesús Corona 63).
Substitutes Not Used: Luis Rodríguez, Guillermo Madrigal.Houston Dynamo -- Tyler Deric, Hunter Freeman, Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron (Josue Soto 65), Corey Ashe (Kofi Sarkodie 46), Colin Clark (Francisco Navas Cobo 74), Luiz Camargo, Adam Moffat, Brad Davis (Danny Cruz 80), Brian Ching (Jason Garey 46), Cam Weaver (Will Bruin 65).
Substitutes Not Used: Tally Hall.Game Notes:
In front of 28,440 fans, the eighth-largest crowd to see a Houston Dynamo game at Robertson Stadium, the Dynamo scored two goals in the first 23 minutes and cruised past Mexican rival Monterrey 3-0 on Sunday night. After Houston built its 2-0 lead, two Monterrey players were ejected before halftime, leaving the Rayados with just nine players for the second half.Houston improved to 8-4-3 all-time at home against Mexican clubs and 8-7-4 overall against Mexican opposition. The Dynamo are now 2-0 in the series against Monterrey, having beaten Rayados 2-1 in the 2009 Dynamo Charities Cup. Each match included four red cards, counting those issued to bench personnel.
Sunday night's game finished with four ejections: straight red cards to Monterrey captain Luis Ernesto Pérez and leading scorer Humberto Suazo in the first half, an expulsion of Rayados coach Víctor Manuel Vucetich in the 67th minute, and a second yellow card to the Dynamo's Adam Moffat in the 88th minute.
Houston led 2-0 even before the ejections, with Cam Weaver firing a low shot in the 12th minute that deflected off a Monterrey defender to give the Dynamo the lead. Brad Davis converted a 23rd-minute penalty kick, earned by midfielder Luiz Camargo, to double the lead. Davis then helped Houston put the game out of the reach in the second half, bending in a free kick for Jason Garey to volley home in the 70th minute.
Dynamo goalkeeper Tyler Deric, making his third start of the season in all games, made four saves to earn his first shutout of the season and Houston's first shutout since July 9.
The Dynamo played without forward Carlo Costly (Honduras); midfielders Alex Dixon (broken finger) and Je-Vaughn Watson (Jamaica); and defenders Andre Hainault (Canada) and Jermaine Taylor (Jamaica).
Next Match: Saturday, September 10, 3 p.m., Dynamo at Sporting Kansas City, LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, Kansas City KS
Next Home Match: Saturday, September 17, 7:30 p.m., Dynamo vs. San Jose Earthquakes, Robertson Stadium
I was not at the game. Personally, I detest midseason friendlies, though I hasten to add I am very happy for the money this match and the one against Bolton raised for Dynamo Charities. As TR would say, "Bully."
And ironically enough, that is the word I would apply to Monterrey. Look, I know it's wrong to affix a label after just two friendlies (this one and the one we played against them two years ago where they took Corey Ashe out for 6-8 weeks.), but my goodness. Here's what Brad Davis had to say in the Chron piece, the same Brad Davis who got his grille busted open by an elbow tonight:
"It's very disappointing," Davis said. "It's a bit embarrassing the way they handled themselves, in all honesty.
"We're here for a charity match. It's for the fans to have a good contest, a good game. I'm sure they wanted to win. We wanted to win. But it happened where they ruined the game. It's a credit to our guys staying in it, keeping our heads and coming away with the win."
More power to you Brad. Monterrey has come in here twice in three years and have shown themselves to be nothing but a group of classless thugs. We all know they are better than that. This is not the way they played en route to the FMF 2011 Apertura and CONCACAF Champions League titles. That is not the way Humberto Suazo played in the World Cup last year. But this is exactly the way they played tonight, by all accounts, and it is beyond shameful.
Personally, I'm hoping that if there's any justice anywhere in the world, someone shows a tape of the game to the Monterrey players' mothers, who then decide to take matters into their own hands. Now THAT'S a visual!