The Houston Dynamo no longer control their own destiny in the CONCACAF Champions League after losing 1-0 to Mexico’s Pachuca Wednesday night at Robertson Stadium. In order to finish second in Group A and advance to the quarterfinals, Houston (2-2-1, 7 points) must win their final group match Oct. 21 in El Salvador against Metapan and hope that that Pachuca wins when they host Arabe Unido of Panama two hours earlier that same evening. Pachuca (4-1-0, 12 points) clinched advancement with tonight’s win, and will only need a point against Arabe Unido to win the group.

The Dynamo have never won a road match in CONCACAF play, going 0-5-5 all-time.

Edgar Benitez’s goal in the 23rd minute was enough to defeat a Dynamo squad that held possession for long stretches of the match, but had trouble putting away their few chances.

“I thought we were very good in the first half, and then we were chasing the game in the second. I thought we had enough opportunities to be ahead in the first half rather than be behind,” Houston coach Dominic Kinnear said.

“We knew this game would be difficult. The Dynamo are a great team. We played intelligently. After the loss on the weekend (4-0 to Santos in Mexican league play), the players stepped up,” Pachuca coach Guillermo Rivarola said.

Houston reserve forward Dominic Oduro was the leading offender in wasting chances. With Luis Angel Landin cup-tied and Cam Weaver playing limited minutes on his return from injury and most likely starting on Sunday against Kansas City (when Brian Ching will be serving a red card suspension), Oduro got the start alongside Ching tonight.

Brian Mullan came close to giving Houston a critical point when he shot off the post from long range in first-half injury time.

Houston went away from their usual 4-4-2 formation to a 3-5-2 when they lost 2-0 at Pachuca with a reserve-laden lineup two weeks ago, and Kinnear used the same formation tonight while playing his first team, with Wade Barrett playing left midfield and Brad Davis sliding into the middle.

“They love to move the ball through the midfield. We wanted to flood the midfield, and give Brad and Stuart (Holden) and Rico (Clark) some time on the ball. I thought it worked out well for us,” Kinnear said.

Pachuca began the match with a mix of starters and reserves, with star midfielder Chaco Gimenez coming in as a substitute in the 59th minute.

While Houston had decent possession in the opening moments, Pachuca was already ringing alarms through Benitez, who got behind Geoff Cameron on a couple of occasions. In the 23rd minute, Juan Carlos Rojas crossed from the right and Benitez got inside Cameron at the top of the box to chest the pass down and beat Pat Onstad to the left side of goal. Bobby Boswell, who was the center back in the three-man back line, had been pulled out of position by Ulises Mendivil’s run to the right of the box.

“It’s a ball we should attack better. I don’t think the ball should be chest-trapped 12 yards out from your goal on a 40-yard cross,” Kinnear said.

Houston had a flurry of shots after the restart, forcing a couple of saves from Tuzo keeper Miguel Calero, but the attack sagged over the last 15 minutes of the half. Mullan’s chance came out of the blue, when he ran onto a loose ball outside the top of the box and ripped a shot that beat Calero, but not the left post. The Dynamo outshot Pachuca 6-2 for the half.

In the 56th minute, Oduro had the worst of several misses, snapping a header high and wide when unmarked in front of the goal for a Ching cross.

“I think if we got that goal, it might have put us over the top,” Kinnear said.

Kinnear felt his team tired late in the match after pushing the pace for so much of the first 70 minutes. Weaver entered the match in the 68th minute for Ching, who had a tight hamstring, according to Kinnear.

Clark had a shot to salvage a tie when he headed just wide left in the 90th minute from a Holden free kick.

“(The loss) puts us in a difficult position. We know what we need to do now. We have to go to El Salvador and win, and hopefully Pachuca beats Arabe Unido,” Kinnear said.

Houston Dynamo Player Ratings

Onstad 7 – not at fault on the goal, some good saves in 2nd half
Cameron 6 – was beaten by Benitez on a few occasions even before the goal
Boswell 6.5 – not in position to cut out the cross that led to the goal, strong in the air otherwise
Hainault 6.5 – also had trouble with Pachuca’s speed
Mullan 8 – outstanding, especially in first half
Clark 8 – all over the field
Holden 7.5 – energetic
Davis 7 – still best when delivering from the left (Robinson 70′ 7 – solid again)
Barrett 5 – a shaky half at left mid (Ashe 46’ 6.5 – better service from left in second half)
Ching 7 – passed well (Weaver 68’ 6 – only one chance late)
Oduro 3 – a truly shocking miss added to lots of turnovers

MATCH FACTS

Pachuca at Houston Dynamo, September 30, 2009
CONCACAF Champions League group stage
Robertson Stadium, Attendance: 10,130

Scoring Summary:
PAC – Edgar Benitez (Juan Carlos Rojas) 23

Misconduct Summary:
PAC – Miguel Calero (caution; Delaying a Restart) 38
PAC – Edgar Benitez (caution; Dissent) 49
PAC – Leobardo Lopez (caution; Delaying a Restart) 55
PAC – Jaime Correa (caution; Delaying a Restart) 88
HOU – Brian Mullan (caution; Reckless Tackle) 94+

Lineups:
Houston
G – Pat Onstad
D – Geoff Cameron, Bobby Boswell, Andrew Hainault
M – Brian Mullan, Ricardo Clark, Stuart Holden, Brad Davis (Eddie Robinson 70), Wade Barrett (c) (Corey Ashe 46)
F – Brian Ching (Cam Weaver 68), Dominic Oduro

Substitutes not used – Tally Hall, Mike Chabala, Craig Waibel, Ryan Cochrane

Pachuca
G – Miguel Calero (c)
D – Leobardo Lopez, Javier Munoz, Carlos Rodriguez
M – Juan Carlos Rojas, Raul Martinez, Gabriel Caballero (Jaime Correa 67), Damian Manso (Jose Francisco Torres 52), Luis Montes
F – Ulises Mendivil, Edgar Benitez (Christian Gimenez 59)

Substitutes not used – Rodolfo Cota, Damian Alvarez, Braulio Godinez, Edy Brambila

Shots: Houston 12, Pachuca 4. Shots on goal: Houston 3, Pachuca 3. Fouls: Houston 16, Pachuca 8. Offsides: Houston 3, Pachuca 6. Corners: Houston 8, Pachuca 1. Saves: Houston 2, Pachuca 3.