Houston Dynamo vs Sporting Kansas City: Dynamo and SKC play out to 1-1 draw

These two teams just seem to have each other's number. In front of a lively sellout crowd at Sporting Park, the Dynamo and SKC played out to a 1-1 draw on Sunday afternoon. Brad Davis put Houston up in the first half, while Kei Kamara leveled the match in the second half.

The first half was pretty even, with neither side really threatening until the latter moments. In the 36th minute, SKC midfielder flicked a header in on goal, but Tally Hall made a big save to deflect the ball out.

Two minutes later, the Dynamo were awarded a penalty kick, but it was overturned after referee Drew Fischer discussed the call with his linesman who had a better view of the play. Kofi Sarkodie played a nice ball into Will Bruin near the top of the box and the ball was shifted to the feet of Davis. SKC midfielder Oriol Rosell made a sliding tackle and Davis went down near the penalty spot.

After seeing the replays, it clearly wasn't a penalty and the referee's got the call right. It was refreshing to see Fischer discuss it with his linesman and overturn the call after seeing so many blown calls by MLS refs - including an SKC goal ruled offside last week that clearly wasn't.

Moments later, Paulo Nagamura sent in a cross that slightly misses Claudio Bieler.

In injury time, Brad Davis put the visitors on top. Giles Barnes flicked on a pass to the feet of Will Bruin. Bruin was able to slip a pass through the legs of his defender and get the ball to Davis who fired a shot near post past Jimmy Nielsen.

Former Dynamo Kei Kamara was a second half sub for Sporting Kansas City and is looking to get back into the starting lineup after a loan spell with Norwich City. Games like this will make that happen soon.

In the 68th minute, Kamara got some space near the top of the box and fired a rocket past Hall to even the match. It was a pretty impressive strike and went straight through the legs of Kofi Sarkodie.

Neither team could find the winner, but Kamara came close in the 75th minute with a header that Hall saved with a hand, and rookie Jason Johnson had a shot blocked by Nagamura.

In the end, a positive result for Houston on the road. The Dynamo are now unbeaten in their last four road matches. Houston will play FC Tucson in U.S. Open Cup action this Wednesday and their next league match will be against the Columbus Crew (4-4-4, 16 points) on Saturday, June 1.

Houston (6-4-3, 21 points) now sits in fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

Game Stats:

Sporting Kansas City: Jimmy Nielsen (c); Seth Sinovic, Matt Besler, Ike Opara, Mechack Jerome (Chance Myers 46); Paulo Nagamura, Oriol Rosell (Lawrence Olum 81), Peterson Joseph (Kei Kamara 52); Graham Zusi, Claudio Bieler, Jacob Peterson

Subs not used: Eric Kronberg, Mikey Lopez, Michael Thomas, Josh Gardner

Houston Dynamo: Tally Hall; Corey Ashe (Mike Chabala 46), Ricardo Clark, Kofi Sarkodie, Eric Brunner; Boniek Garcia, Brad Davis (c) ( Jason Johnson 87), Andrew Driver, Adam Moffat; Giles Barnes ( Warren Creavalle 81), Will Bruin

Subs not used: Tyler Deric, Anthony Arena, Brian Ching, Luiz Camargo

Misconduct Summary:
HOU -- Giles Barnes (caution; delaying a restart) 50
KC -- Seth Sinovic (caution; reckless foul) 57

Scoring Summary:
HOU -- Brad Davis 3 (Will Bruin 4, Giles Barnes 2) 46+
KC -- Kei Kamara 1 (Claudio Bieler 1, Jacob Peterson 1) 68