Match Recap: Houston falls to Sounders 1-0 despite man advantage.

Houston dropped three points on the road in a match that will leave Dynamo fans frustrated.

The Dynamo lost 1-0 on the road against the Seattle Sounders despite a one-man advantage for more than a half-hour of the match.

Sounder midfielder Gonzalo Pineda was handed a red card by head referee Ted Unkel in the 56th minute because of a high-kick to Ricardo Clark's chest. The call swung the momentum in Houston's favor and the Dynamo pressed with wave after wave of attack.

But the team only managed one shot on goal with the one-man advantage and the barrage of attacking power waned in the winding minutes of the match, leaving Houston with a wasted opportunity to get points in one of Major League Soccer's toughest environment.

Seattle's dangerous forward tandem scored the deciding goal in the 39th minute their first real opportunity of the match.

Seattle's Lamar Neagle recovered a bad touch by Ricardo Clark in the midfield, which he back-heeled to Clint Dempsey. Dempsey only needed a few touches to pass to Obafemi Martins streaking past the USMNT captain and into the box.

The Nigerian international spun past Jermaine Taylor, who tried to slow down Martins, and launched a right-footed shot into the left side of the goal to give the Sounders a goal in the 39th minute on their first shot-on-target.

Houston did not take the goal lightly and pressed Seattle hard in the following minutes, launching valiant efforts to get in goal and tie it up. But nothing fell their way, with Houston's two corner kicks in the last twenty minutes of the half failing to connect.

Failure on set pieces will surely come back to haunt Houston. Houston had seven corner kicks against Seattle, and while some of those attempts look promising -- especially when Nathan Sturgis was involved -- nothing came out of any of them. The team also had several free-kick opportunities but rarely threatened on any of them.

Giles Barnes, who had a solid game despite only on shot on goal, had a chance in the 80th minute on a free kick about ten yards outside of the box and barely missed, hitting the shot just outside the top left corner of the goal post. Barnes also had another chance in the first half for one of Houston's two on-target efforts.

He received the ball in the middle of Houston's attacking half and quickly had three Seattle defenders close in on him. Davis trailed right behind him in support, but Barnes must not have seen him and shot the ball. Sounder keeper Stefan Frei trapped the ball for an easy safe.

Deric made another show stopping save in the 64th minute when Osvaldo Alonso bull-rushed down the middle of the field and shot the ball. Houston's home-grown keeper deflected the three-time MLS All-Star's shot for what should be another MLS Save of the Week candidate.

Kofi Sarkodie made one last desperate attempt to even the score in stoppage time with a long-distance shot but his effort went well wide of the goal.

Owen Coyle made his first substitution after an early injury scare. Raul Rodriguez, who returned to action last Saturday against the Colorado Rapids, left the match in the 26th minute after a nasty collision with goalkeeper Tyler Deric. Deric and Rodriguez challenged high for a ball, and the Dynamo keeper accidentally hit the former La Liga defender with his elbow. David Horst came on in relief for Rodriguez.

Will Bruin and Leonel Miranda both came on as late substitutes in the match. Bruin went on for Luis Garrido in the 64th minute and Miranda went on for Oscar Boniek Garcia in the 72nd minute.

Barnes, Garcia, Garrido and Taylor made their returns after missing last week's game for international duty. Barnes and Taylor played for Jamaica while Garcia and Garrido played matches for Honduras.

The Dynamo play again next Saturday at home against the Montreal Impact.