Dynamo v New York Red Bulls: And first place goes to...

Yeah, so there was this game last night at the Cage. Two teams entered. One team left bloody, battered, and bruised...but only their ego. Although, one might believe NYRB's Lade is likely to be two of the three physically as well. The other team left with sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference of MLS. And if you haven't heard who won yet, well, you'll just have to endure waiting a little longer until after the jump. Now can you dig that, SUCKA?

Ok, ok, I'll let you know now, the Houston Dynamo absolutely, positively TRASHED NYRB. This is yet another game where the score easily could have been 5 or 6 to nil, but in the end was only a slightly tepid 2 to nil. But yet again, the Dynamo came up against a tough Eastern Conference opponent at home, and thoroughly sent them away with a resounding victory.

Coming into the match, it was all about how Houston had lost Geoff Cameron and how much of an impact that would be on the team. It was about the adjustment periods, and how it would take time to recover what they'd lost in Geoff. Don't get me wrong, we're not nearly the same team without him, but damn, we sure didn't look like we needed a whole lot of adjustment time.

Dom had the contingency plans in place early on. He'd be preparing for life after Cameron even before Geoff was called up to National Team duty early in the season. He'd found suitable replacements, but not necessarily guys who would shine to extent Geoff had. Yet, somehow, they have. Sure, they still aren't Geoff Cameron, but then again do we really NEED Geoff Cameron right now?

During this run of form, Calen Carr, the one everybody loved to rag on early in the season (myself included), has become the Super Duper Incredible Helmet Man. Faster than a speeding outside back, more powerful than a well-renowned center back, and able to leap tall goalkeepers in a single bound. Yes, he has become superhuman.

Consider for a moment, if you will, his stat line over the last 4 games:

4 goal, 1 assist and 2 game winning goals.

That is Chris Wondolowski good. Crazy, freakin insane, we finally found how to play a guy the Chicago Fire gave us for the Spider Man. At this point, I'll take my Helmet Man, thanks. He has become unreal during this run of form, and it really speaks to Boniek playing behind him. It frees him up to make those moves into the middle, and really BE the forward he is built to be. Hah, so much for not having pace up top!

Now, a lot has been made about the challenge where Hainault came up and elbowed Lade near the temple. I noted on the replay, however, there was no intent. In fact, I would dare say Hainault even realized how close Lade was and where exactly Lade was in relation to himself. When he goes up, he is focused solely on the ball, doesn't look down or away, only at the ball. Thus, this nonsense of it should have been carded is rubbish. Get that trash outta here!

Also notching a goal on the night was none other than the Jamaican Superstar himself, Jermaine Taylor. Yes, Taylor of all players notched a goal, his first MLS goal of his career. Kudos to Taylor for an outstanding run of defensive performances, and now including a "crash the goal" goal to boot.

I said this during the match, but by the 20th minute, NYRB looked spent. By the 60th minute, NYRB looked done. As one of our beloved readers pointed out, I swear I saw a white flag being waved by Hans Backe around the 70th minute...but I could be wrong of course. Still, it was total and clear domination by the home side, proving how vital home field advantage will be come our MLS Cup run.

And mark my words, if the team keeps this run of form going, we WILL be hoisting the Cup at the end of the MLS Cup Final. NO. DOUBT. ABOUT. IT. I'm just not sure they can keep this run up for that long. But who knows? We've dominated some of the best teams the league has to offer, but there is still far more work to be on. Onto the next game, against a familiar opponent. The same one we just dominated. NYRB. In their home.

Let's break the streak...NYRB 11 wins at home...1 loss at home. Let's. Do. THIS.