The biggest news in Major League Soccer on Saturday was the announcement of an agreement between the league and the players union on a new collective bargaining agreement that will cover the next five years.
The agreement avoided a possible players strike before the start of the regular season on Thursday.
In what could have been the last game before a MLS work stoppage, the Houston Dynamo defeated Chivas USA 3-1 before 1,657 fans at Harder Stadium in both teams’ final tuneup before their season openers.
“I’m happy about it,” Houston forward Brian Ching said about the labor pact. “It still has to be ratified but it’s a step in the right direction. You never want to have a work stoppage and I’m glad we avoided one.”
“It’s good to get something figured out,” Chivas defender Jonathan Bornstein said. “Obviously, no one wanted the season not to start, so next week it’ll be good to be on the field playing.”
Saturday's match at Harder Stadium was played after a collective bargaining agreement was reached earlier in the day between the MLS and its players union.
Chivas coach Martin Vasquez, a former player in the league, said he was glad things were ironed before the season.
“It’s great for the players now,” he said. “Whatever they agreed for a CBA for five years I think it’s positive. I think we’re going to see a good year in the MLS.”
Things looked positive for Chivas in the first half Saturday. They owned most of the possession and created a few good scoring chances. Their best chance game in the 33rd minute when Maykel Galindo crossed the ball to Osael Romero at the far post. Romero headed the ball on goal, but Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall made a great save to deny the forward from El Salvador.
The half ended scoreless.
While not happy with the result, Vasquez said he was pleased with how his first unit played in the first half.
“We wanted to come here and get at least 45 good minutes with our first group, and we accomplished that.” he said.
On the other side, Houston coach Dominic Kinnear said, “I think Chivas played some good stuff in the first half and kind of pulled us around. Halftime came at a good time for us. We got to regroup and I think we were better on both sides of the ball, with it and without it.”
The Dynamo broke through in the 52nd minute on a nice exchange between Ching and his runningmate Dominic Oduro. Ching held the ball at the top of the penalty area and then slipped a through pass to Oduro, who beat Chivas’ Jose Miranda with a low, angled shot to the goalkeeper’s right.
Ching helped make it 2-0 five minutes later with his hustle. After Brian Mullen’s free kick from 25 yards slammed off the cross bar, Ching stormed in, gathered the rebound and centered the ball for an onrushing Brad Davis, who put the ball away on his first touch of the game.
Kinnear was happy to Ching and Davis back on the field, as both have been nursing injuries.
“He’s had trouble with a hamstring,” Kinnear said of Ching. “We’ve been very cautious with him, and he said he felt good enough to play tonight, so we let him go 60 minutes.
“It was good to get Brad back on the field, too, because he’s been missing for a while. Those are two important players for us. I think you saw the dividends when both guys were on the field.”
Houston almost made it 3-0 in the 70th minute as the speedy Oduro outran a Chivas defender for the ball and fired a shot that all Miranda could do was block with two hands. Oduro got the rebound and crossed the ball to the far post but nobody was there to touch it.
Chivas, playing with six new players, cut the lead in half in the 83rd minute when Yamith Cuesta flicked a corner kick from Gerson Mayen past Hall.
Chivas kept the pressure on with Jesus Padilla sending a crossing ball to Justin Braun in the box, but Tally came out and intercepted it to thwart the threat.
The Dynamo put the game away when Adrian Serioux scored off a corner kick from Francisco Cobos Navas in the 87th minute.
“It was a better second half than the first, obviously because of the goals,” Kinnear said. “Defensively, we were a bit more organized; we didn’t chase as much as we did in the first half because our shape was better and we were more disciplined.
“The goals, anytime you get three goals you’re pretty happy. It was a good response getting that goal back. I was pretty happy with that.”
The game got a physical at moments, but that could be expected between two Western Division rivals.
“That’s obviously one of the better teams in the west every year,” Bornstein said. “Every time you battle Houston it’s a game where a lot of tempers get thrown, a lot of emotion comes out on the field.
“I think everyone’s ready to start playing. You can see that by the way things went tonight.”
With the labor strife out of the way, let the games begin.
