Islanders and Dynamo Taste Continental Success

Islanders 3 vs San­tos Laguna 1(Mexico)

Dynamo  0 vs San Fran­cisco FC 0 (Panama)

Final Thoughts:

FMF apol­o­gists will com­plain about the con­di­tion of the pitch tonight in Bay­oman, but the bot­tom line is the Islanders com­ing off three points last week ver­sus Tauro FC and win­ning the Reg­u­lar Sea­son USL-1 title are in form and looked eager to get an early goal because of the con­di­tions. Once Puerto Rico scored that goal the game opened up despite the con­di­tions and the Islanders dom­i­nated until about minute 60. San­tos then began to really play but also in scenes rem­i­nis­cent of Superliga showed the chip­pi­ness and unsport­ing behav­ior which always occurs when a Mex­i­can side losses to an Amer­i­can side. Colin Clarke’s long­ball tac­tics were per­fect for tonight’s muck.

In Panama, the Dynamo played a good match, the best played thus far by an MLS side in this tour­na­ment. Much like the Cuban National Team against the US who had been cooped up for much of the pre­vi­ous few weeks due to Trop­i­cal Storms/Hurricanes, the Dynamo showed the affects of Ike early with some rust and lack of shape. I have to assume Hous­ton did not train for the bet­ter part of ten days. How­ever, as the game moved on the Dynamo set­tled in and in the 2nd half espe­cially after DeRo came on, Hous­ton was the supe­rior side. A good point on the road for Dom Kinnear’s group.

LIVE BLOG:

Two time reign­ing MLS Cham­pion Hous­ton Dyanmo and USL Commissioner’s Cup win­ner Puerto Rico are in action tonight. Hous­ton has a sub­stan­tially eas­ier match in Panama City against San Fran­cisco while the Islanders remark­able run of suc­cess will end tonight no doubt in Bay­oman against San­tos Laguna, whom I con­sider to be the best club side in CONCACAF region. Stay tuned here for live com­men­tary  as the elite teams in both of our US domes­tic leagues do bat­tle tonight with some of the best from the region.

9:55 PM ET: Looks likely both results will hold. Pat Onstad and Peter Vil­le­gas have been the respec­tive MOMs.  The San­tos play­ers are being chippy and are doing a good job of bait­ing the Islanders. Game over, Islanders win 3–1, Dynamo draw nill nill. A good night for Amer­i­can sides.

9:50 PM ET: San­tos has really taken over this game the last fif­teen min­utes. The Islanders seem to have run out of gas. In Panama, the Dyanmo are doing MLS proud tonight with an awe­some dis­play of defend­ing and counter attacking.

9:45 PM ET: Chippy play from San Fran­cisco. They seem des­per­ate and Hous­ton could nick one at the end. Holden stand­ing over a cor­ner, sends a good ball in which leads to a nice header which could have spilled to DeRo.

9:40 PM ET: Colin Clarke mak­ing defen­sive switches. It’s 11 v 10 now and he has a two goal lead. Gbandi replaces Vil­le­gas, while the San­tos man­ager has been sent off. In Panama, the Dynamo con­tinue to hold steady.

9:35PM ET: GOAL SANTOS fol­lowed by a fight. Typ­i­cal Mex­i­can Foot­ball where the San­tos play­ers are try­ing to stir it up. A San­tos player hit Bill Gaudette in the eye. He has been sent off. Now the San­tos play­ers are charg­ing the ref again. #23 on San­tos sent off. (Sorry don’t know his name). DeRo and Ching on in Panama.

9:25 PM ET: Hous­ton still keep­ing its shape and look­ing solid. Puerto Rico get­ting more chances and in typ­i­cally Mex­i­can fash­ion San­tos is start­ing to lose their cool. San Fran­cisco has a free kick and just missed it.

9:20 PM ET: Hous­ton still hold­ing its own down in Panama.

9:15 PM ET: GOAL ISLANDERS. Miranda! 3–0 Islanders.

8:55 PM ET: Against a side like San­tos, maybe the best team in the region, the Islanders have to take their oppor­tu­ni­ties and while they have two goals they should have at least two more. Still 2–0 in Bay­oman, and 0–0 in Panama. Half­time in both games.

8:50 PM:  Puerto Rico should have a third and maybe a fourth by now. Oswaldo Sanchez play­ing as usual huge between the pipes. Hous­ton and San Fran­cisco still scoreless.

8:46 PM ET: GOAL! Puerto Rico. It’s Del­gado. 2–0.

8:45 PM ET: Peter Vil­le­gas has a break­away but can­not set­tle the ball and loses con­trol of it! Then a great save by Oswaldo Sanchez and then another clear­ance off the line by San­tos. Colin Clarke’s boys could be up 2–0 now. Boy they will regret not fin­ish­ing in that sequence.

8:40 PM ET: Bill Gaudette goes down and looks badly hurt. The trainer comes on but he shakes it off and will con­tinue. The pitch is now water logged. They should call the game but with the USL-1 side win­ning let’s hope they don’t!

8:35 PM ET: AGH! Jeff Cameron just a a bit wide of the far post.

8:30 PM ET: I’m glad to see Cory Ashe get a run out tonight. He’s the type of player who can really frus­trate latin sides who try and slow the game down.

8:25 PM ET: Amer­i­can born Edgar Castil­lio flubs a shot on goal. Bill Gaudette was in good posi­tion, but Castil­lio did have the far post open. The rain has inten­si­fied in Bay­oman and Puerto Rico’s early goal now is even more critical.

8:20 PM ET: GOAL! ISLANDERS! Not sure if that was Teles­ford or Vil­le­gas. Can you believe that Cin­derella is still dancing?

8:15 PM ET: Osei Teles­ford beat Oswaldo Sanchez but he was offsides.

8:10 PM ET: Jorge Dely Valdes who once scored a ton of goals for the Rapids is now play­ing for San Fran­cisco in his native coun­try. Or is that is brother Juan Dely Valdes?

8:05 PM ET: No DeRo, or Ching for the Dynamo but still a for­mi­da­ble lineup except for the fact that the error prone Patrick Ianni starts.

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