Brian Ching's 89th-minute headed goal denied D.C. United a victory that would have vaulted the Black-and-Red to 4th place in the Eastern Conference as the Houston Dynamo rallied twice to come away with a 2-2 draw.
From a D.C. United perspective, Ching's goal was infuriatingly easy, resulting from a simple cross from the left wing by Colin Clark. Ching, left isolated in the 18-yard box, rose to nod a downward header that was deflected by Perry Kitchen and bounced past a lunging Bill Hamid, who saw the ball much too late.
United thought that they'd won the match through Charlie Davies' 73rd minute goal, which wouldn't have been possible without a sublime piece of dribbling skill from Andy Najar, who controlled a long pass from substitute midfielder Fred on the right side of Houston's penalty area, tiptoed past Clark along the end line, and forced goalkeeper Tally Hall to come off his line and try to corral the ball. However, Hall could only manage to palm the ball to the waiting Davies, who slammed his 8th goal of the season into the net past the prone forms of Hall and defender Mike Chabala to celebrate his 25th birthday in style.
United didn't have it all their own way in the second half, however. Houston could have gone in front in the 59th minute, when Danny Cruz hit the bar with a speculative shot from outside the box that was the result of a half-cleared corner. It was only a mad scramble by Perry Kitchen that prevented Will Bruin from tapping into an open net.
Houston should have gone in front in the 64th minute when another Clark cross from the left wing eluded everyone except Cruz, who rolled the ball off the post instead of into the open net.