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Altidore carries Red Bulls over Dynamo

Apr 22, 2007 - 3:01 AM EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- The New York Red Bulls may have played shorthanded, but that did not matter to Josmer Altidore.

Altidore netted his second goal in as many as games to help lift the Red Bulls to a 1-0 victory over the defending champion Houston Dynamo.

The 17-year-old Altidore scored the lone goal in the 60th minute when he took the pass from Hunter Freeman cutting across in the box, beat Houston defender Eddie Robinson to the ball and shot a soft liner past the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Pat Onstad.

"He (Freeman) threaded the pass in there and I just focus on it and then I beat (Robinson) and took a good shot and scored," Altidore said. "I took a lot of beating from their defenders, but I had the opportunity of scoring once I got into the box and made a good shot."

"That is what strikers have to do, is score goals," New York coach Bruce Arena said. "Outstanding effort by Jozy on the goal. Every game is valuable for him at his age, and his technique and experience is getting better."

Spending the majority of last season away from the club while working toward his high school diploma, Altidore scored three goals over a six-game span dating in 2006. He also scored a goal in last week's 3-0 win over FC Dallas.

Red Bulls goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus registered his second shutout, holding Houston (1-1-1) to just three shots on goal.

"We had control of the ball in the right area and more opportunity to score," Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear said. "But lack of execution and lack of quality on shots was the difference in the game."

In the 11th minute, the Red Bulls (2-0-1) were awarded a penalty kick when Houston midfielder Dwayne De Rosario touched the ball in mid-air in the penalty area on a crossing pass from the Red Bulls' Dane Richards. De Rosario was given a yellow card.

New York missed out on a golden opportunity to grab an early advantage when Clint Mathis saw his penalty-kick attempt stopped by Onstad to keep the game scoreless.

Mathis was not around to finish the game after receiving a red card in the 36th minute, when Ryan Cochrane, who did a fine acting job, fell to the ground. Official Baldomero Toledo ejected Mathis, leaving the Bulls one man down.

"It was overreacting by the referee, it wasn't an intentional foul and I was shocked he made the call," New York's Claudio Reyna said. "It's good to get in a habit to ugly games like this one and win 1-0 games."

Reyna returned to the field after sitting out one game with a left leg contusion for New York, which has not allowed a goal in 270 minutes - a span of three games.