After both teams had to wait 24 hours to play the match due to thunderstorms in the Houston area on Saturday night, a 1-1 draw was the final outcome at the end of the night. Toronto FC came into Houston after winning four straight matches and looked primed to find another three points against the Houston Dynamo, and even though the played with a man advantage for the whole of the second half, they could not find the winner they searched for.

Houston starts brightly but Toronto stay in the game

Houston had no problem starting on the front foot in this match and kept the pressure on Toronto right from the first whistle. Very early in the half, Colleen Warner and Cristian Maidana combined well to free up Mauro Manotas near the edge of Toronto's box but Manotas could only fire his shot high over the goal. One minute later, the Dynamo took the lead through Maidana. The Argentine was found in the box with a great pass that he latched onto quickly. He wasted no time connecting with his shot on the bounce and fired it past Alex Bono to the far side of the goal to give Houston the lead. Houston were clearly on the front foot after this and it took a great stop by Bono in the 19th minute prevented Andrew Wenger from extending Houston's lead.

Jozy Altidore celebrates his goal with his teammates | Source: Erik Williams/USA TODAY Sports
Jozy Altidore celebrates his goal with his teammates | Source: Erik Williams/USA TODAY Sports

That save by Bono would prove pivotal as Toronto found their rhythm and began to edge into the game. In the 24th minute, Joe Willis had to come up big to prevent Jozy Altidore from finding the equalizer for Toronto. Altidore was not done and from the resulting corner, he broke away from his marker in the box to volley the ball home after a low delivery from Sebastian Giovinco found him. Altidore then proved to be vital for Toronto at the other end when a corner from Houston bounced around in the box before a shot was taken. Altidore was on hand to clear the ball off the line and keep the score at 1-1.

Right before the end of the half, Houston were down to ten men and an opportunity presented itself for Toronto to come away from Houston with all three points. Bono found Giovinco with a long drop-kick and the Italian managed to get past Abdoulie Mansally before heading towards goal. Mansally then blatantly pulled Giovinco down and was shown a red card for the denial of an obvious goal scoring opportunity.

More opportunities go by for both teams

With a player advantage, the expectancy was for Toronto to take over the game and eventually find a winner but the complete opposite happened in the early parts of the second half. The first chance fell to the Dynamo through Maidana who was found by his teammates after some confusion in the box from Toronto's defenders. Bono spilled his initial save but his defenders rallied and cleared the ball away. A few minutes later, Boniek Garcia, Werner and Manotas combined well to allow Manotas to have an effort on goal. Bono was on hand to make a good save though and the score line remained one all.

Cristian Maidana scored Houston's only goal | Source: Bob Levey/Associated Press
Cristian Maidana scored Houston's only goal | Source: Bob Levey/Associated Press

Toronto were not to be outdone and  and in the 63rd minute, substitute Jay Chapman crossed the ball into the box and found Altidore. The US international lunged for the ball and watched as his effort hit the inside of the post and bounced out again. That was a real chance for Toronto and they were unlucky not to be ahead. Houston had chances after that but Toronto's goalkeeper Bono was in good form tonight and continued to make good saves to keep Toronto in the game and give them a chance to find the winner.

In the 89th minute, Toronto almost had that winner. Another substitute, Ashton Morgan, put a good cross into the box that was met by Toronto's third substitute, Tosaint Ricketts, at the far post. His initial touch did not go far but before he could follow the ball up and grab a goal, Jalil Anibaba performed an overhead kick to clear the ball off the line and prevent Ricketts from giving Toronto the winner on the night. That was the last chance of the night and Houston hung on to gain a good point against an in-form Toronto FC.

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