page_title: MLS Cup 2011
section_title: Houston Dynamo
hierarchical_section_title: MLS Cup 2011 / Road to the final / Houston Dynamo
caption_attribution_description: English: View of the interior of PPL Park, from the Sons of Ben supporters section, the River End, captured during the eighth minute of play of the Union v. Dynamo match October 2, 2010.
context_page_description: MLS Cup 2011, the 16th edition of Major League Soccer's championship match, was played between the Houston Dynamo and the Los Angeles Galaxy to decide the champion of the 2011 season. The match was played at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California on November 20, 2011. Los Angeles won their third championship, defeating Houston 1–0 off a 72nd-minute goal from Galaxy captain Landon Donovan. David Beckham and Robbie Keane assisted the game's lone goal. With the win, the Galaxy became the first team since the Columbus Crew in 2008 to win both the Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup in the same year.
  For Los Angeles, it was a league-record seventh appearance in the MLS Cup final, while it was Houston's third appearance in the league final. Both the Galaxy and the Dynamo qualified for the 2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League. The Galaxy earned their third successive berth, while the Dynamo earned their third ever berth in the Champions League and their first since the 2009–10 edition.
context_section_description: The Houston Dynamo spent the first half of the regular season in inconsistent form, finding themselves in a slew of playoff bubble teams. In mid-September, the club hit solid form and finished their final six matches with four wins, no losses and two draws. After finishing second in the Eastern Conference, Houston received a direct bye to the Eastern Conference Semifinals. As the second-seeded club, Houston was paired up against the Philadelphia Union, who qualified for the playoffs for the first time in their history.
  Against the Union, the Dynamo posted victories in each leg of the two-match, aggregate series, winning the round by a score of 3–1. The first match, played on October 29 at Philadelphia's PPL Park, marked Houston's first road playoff win. Houston defender and Canadian international André Hainault scored the opening goal in the fifth minute of play, only for Philadelphia's Sébastien Le Toux to tie the match two minutes later. In the 30th minute, Houston's Calen Carr scored the go-ahead goal, which ended up being the game-winning goal. Goalkeeper Tally Hall made 10 saves, six in the second half, to preserve the win.
  The second leg of the conference semifinals was played at Robertson Stadium, Houston's final match at the stadium due to the opening of BBVA Compass Stadium in 2012. The game's lone goal came from longtime Houston striker Brian Ching, who scored three minutes into stoppage time in the first half of play on an assist by longtime teammate Brad Davis. It was Ching's sixth MLS Cup Playoffs goal, and his first playoff goal for the club since the 2007 MLS Cup Playoffs.
  Since Sporting Kansas City, the top seed in the Eastern Conference, defeated the Colorado Rapids in their conference semifinal, the Dynamo traveled to Kansas City, Kansas to take on Sporting for the 2011 MLS Eastern Conference Championship. The two sides finished two points apart from one another during the regular season, as Sporting claimed the Eastern Conference regular season title after a 1–0 victory at D.C. United. The match was played at Sporting's Livestrong Sporting Park, the same location where Sporting defeated the Dynamo 3–0 in regular season play on September 10. The championship, however, played in Houston's favor, as the Dynamo posted a 2–0 victory at Kansas City.  Despite an injury to Davis, one of the finalists for the MLS MVP award, Hainault scored his second playoff goal in the 53rd minute, while Houston loanee and Honduran international Carlo Costly scored a buffer goal in the 87th minute to seal the club's third trip to the MLS Cup championship.
caption: During Houston's run to the MLS Cup final, the Dynamo picked up their first win at PPL Park (pictured above).
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