Photos by Marco Torres

​Check out our slideshow of fans and dives during the Mexico vs. Venezuela game.

To get a feel for Mexico's game against Venezuela last night at Reliant Stadium, one only needed to watch the last 25 minutes. Seriously... the previous 65 minutes only produced one Venezuelan goal.

Mexico found the net three times at the end -- two in a span of a minute.

Here are three thoughts from last night's game.

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Photo by Marco Torres

No joy in Dynamoville today

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If ever there was a textbook way of how to go about winning an MLS Cup, the LA Galaxy were the perfect example Sunday night. Their game plan was simple: buy high-priced prima donna players, sign over-the-hill veterans to accompany them, bring in a head coach whose best quality is stroking egos, and wait five years to win the cup.

Last night at the 2011 MLS Cup, the five years were they waited for finally came to fruition as they won cup, 1-0, at the hands of the Houston Dynamo.

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Photo by Marco Torres

So you're saying there's a chance....

​"If you wanna crown them, then crown their ass" -- ex-head coach for the Arizona Cardinals, Dennis Green

Those words run deep inside the minds of Houston Dynamo faithful, as their team is a heavy underdog to the Los Angeles Galaxy at the 2011 MLS Cup Final (Sunday, 8 p.m., ESPN). Since the Dynamo beat Sporting Kansas City a week and a half ago and punched their ticket to the MLS Cup Final, all the talk has been about how great the Galaxy are and their place in MLS history.

The Galaxy have it all this year. They are the 2011 Supporters' Shield winners -- the team with the best overall-all regular season record. They finished the season with 67 points, second-most all-time in MLS history. The Gals also had the league's stingiest defense, allowing only 28 goals this season.

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Photo by Marco Torres

Dynamo move on in the playoffs.

​See pics of The Dynamo's final game at Robertson Stadium.

For the fourth time in six seasons, the Houston Dynamo are back in the MLS Conference Championship Game. They arrived via their 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Union, 3-1 on the aggregate score. They'll travel to Kansas City to face Sporting on Sunday, the winner punching their ticket to the MLS Cup on November 20.

Thursday's victory over the Union was vintage Dynamo; tough defense, maintained possession, physical play and a Brian Ching goal on a set piece from Brad Davis. Other than the Dynamo's final score, there were four winners in last night's match.

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Tonight brings an end to an era -- but hopefully not the season -- for the Houston Dynamo.

Say goodbye to Robertson

​They're playing their last game at Robertson Stadium; next season they move into their fancy new stadium downtown.

Tonight, though, is the second game of their playoff series against the Philadelphia Union. The Dynamo enter with an advantage, having one the first game of the aggregate-goal series 2-1. The winner takes on Kansas City in the Eastern Conference finals.

The Dynamo have had a good run at Robertson, where they first started in 2006, winning the MLS title in the first two seasons. The old stadium has been a good home for the raucous Orange fans, but we're sure they will appreciate the modern amenities of the new place. (UH, of course, is hoping to renovate the old facility.)

Here's a video to get you ready for tonight's match:

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Photo by Marco Torres

Great night at Robertson, even without Beckham.

​The Houston Dynamo closed out their 2011 MLS regular season with a bang, dispatching the LA Galaxy 3-1 Sunday night at Robertson Stadium. In doing so, they secured second place in the Eastern Conference and earned a date with the Philadelphia Union in a home-and-away aggregate series.

LA entered the match missing six starters; Galaxy manager Bruce Arena gave them the night off after they won their CONCACAF Champions League match against CD Motagua in Honduras Thursday night. Among those missing for the Galaxy were David Beckham, Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane and Omar Gonzalez. The Orange refused to show mercy, as they put on a clinic in front of the 30,018 fans at the Rob.

There were four clear winners in Sunday's game.

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Courtesy of Houston Dynamo

Alex Dixon's game-winning goal Saturday night against Real Salt Lake was also his first career MLS goal.

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Reminiscent of vintage Houston Dynamo, they pulled out a dramatic, last-second 3-2 victory against visiting Real Salt Lake. The unlikely hero for the Orange was homegrown player Alex Dixon, who sent the 16,247 fans at Robertson Stadium home happy with "the last kick of the ball."

"I'm happy for Alex to come out and make a difference," head coach Dominic Kinnear said. "I'm happy for the guys; they showed great determination this week to come out undefeated this week and score two goals very late."

Dixon's heroics came in second half stoppage time. With time running down, Brad Davis sent a cross into the box that was cleared by RSL defender Chris Schuler. Dixon rounded up the loose ball, dribbled along the top of the congested box and rifled a 20-yard shot past RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando. The game-winning tally was Dixon's first career MLS goal.

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Courtesy of Houston Dynamo

After scoring two goals, what does Brian Ching get for his troubles? He gets mauled by a rabid Corey Ashe.

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After a helter-skelter first half of the season, the Houston Dynamo opened up the second on a high note, sinking the Seattle Sounders FC 3-1 Saturday night at Robertson Stadium.

Leading the way for the Dynamo was team captain Brian Ching, who finished the night with two goals -- including the game-winner in the 23rd minute. Colin Clark also contributed with the first goal of the night and an assist on the third goal, plus some feisty play in midfield.

With Seattle playing a mid-week game -- a 1-0 loss to Panamanian side San Francisco FC in CONCACAF Champions League -- the Dynamo knew it was important to jump on them early. In the seventh minute, Geoff Cameron swung a cross in the penalty box, where Ching was there to chest the ball the down. After it got away from him, Clark came racing in to put in the close-range shot to give the Dynamo the 1-0 lead.

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​Hair Balls recently received an exclusive tour of the new Houston Dynamo Stadium, and things look to be taking shape as planned.

The player's tunnel is already in place while last week, part of the concrete concourse was poured. The remainder will be installed this week after the rains delayed things a bit.

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The Dynamo played their first-ever European adversary Wednesday night at Robertson Stadium, and they came out on the losing end, 2-0 to Bolton Wanderers of the English Premier League. The score wasn't as important to the Orange as was the opportunity to see some new talent against a quality foe.

Head coach Dominic Kinnear rested veterans like Brad Davis and Brian Ching for an opportunity to observe perspective talent, such as trialist Bjorn Lindemann, and youngsters Francisco Navas Cobo, Josue Soto and Alex Dixon. The one player Kinnear couldn't gauge was Costa Rican trialist Alvaro Sanchez.

"It was hard to judge Alvaro, because he didn't play," Kinnear said after the game. "He looked good sitting down." Sanchez didn't get playing time against Bolton because he reportedly had blisters on his foot so large that he couldn't put on his cleats. Some foreigners can't handle the H-Town heat -- pansies.

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