One penalty, one clean sheet, three points
Houston did not need much on Saturday night. A penalty in the 21st minute from Guilherme, then eighty-odd minutes of holding the Los Angeles Galaxy at arm’s length. The Dynamo won 1-0 and made it four victories in a row.
Lawrence Ennali drew the foul in the box, John Nelson conceded it, Guilherme converted. It was his 12th league goal of the season and his fourth in four consecutive matches. Only the three players tied at the top of the scoring charts, on 13, sit ahead of him.
Jonathan Bond recorded his fourth straight shutout without making a single save. The Galaxy did not put one shot on target across the 90 minutes.
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A win built on control, not volume
Houston took five shots all night and hit the target twice. The numbers that mattered sat elsewhere: close to 58 percent possession, and a visiting side that never got near Bond. The Dynamo move to 11-6-2 and 35 points, with a seven-match unbeaten run behind them and a sold-out home crowd after back-to-back wins on the road.
They managed it without their head coach. Ben Olsen served a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation, which left assistant Juan Guerra running the bench.
The Galaxy problem is scoring
Los Angeles have not won in six. They have not scored at all in either of their two August fixtures. At 5-8-7 and 22 points, the defending is less of an issue than the total absence of an end product.
Saturday made it harder still. Carlos Garces came on and was sent off with a straight red in the 58th minute, under ten minutes after entering the pitch. JT Marcinkowski made one save behind a back line that spent the final half hour a man short.
The two clubs drew 1-1 in Los Angeles on May 23. Three months later the gap between them in the table reads 13 points.
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