Highlights: Dynamo and Portland slug out scoreless draw

Just because a match ends 0-0, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot to talk about.

Houston remains unbeaten. Portland isn’t all that upset with the result. And the new stadium still rocks.

Those are the big points on Tuesday’s 0-0 draw down in South Texas, where the Dynamo pitched 180 minutes of shutout soccer inside BBVA.

We already peeled back a few more layers on last night’s match with our Drilling Down element.

Now for the highlights, with a couple of pointers:

• Watch for Troy Perkins’ good work in Portland goal. Twice he shuts down Calen Carr in one-on-one opportunities.
• Clearly, the good fans of Houston are still learning the navigational tricks of on-time arrival through thick Houston traffic. There were lots of empty seats as the match kicked off; it was mostly full by the time this happened …
• Watch for the 81^st minute kerplunk just outside Portland’s penalty area. How referee Chris Penso could adjudge that no foul was committed when Futty Danso scythes down Carr, only he could say. Yes, Danso gets a wee little toe on the ball, which may have been enough to keep the Timbers center back from seeing red. But no call at all?Best guess: Penso figured that any whistle at all would need to be a red, so he completely deferred.
• Also study in the highlights to see how far Penso was behind the play. A long ball from Geoff Cameron had everyone chasing the play, and his understandable inability to get caught up with the sequence probably also kept Penso from making a more weighty decision.

.