Ezequiel Ponce scored in the 66th minute Saturday night and the Houston Dynamo earned three points with a 1-0 blanking of visiting St. Louis City SC.
Houston (6-9-5, 23 points) generated the goal off a cross into the box. Franco Escobar passed to Felipe Andrade near the right post and his pass found a wide-open Ponce, who kneed the ball into what amounted to an empty net for his fourth goal of the year.
Goalie Jonathan Bond had to make just one save — Cedric Teuchert’s attempt from the center of the in the sixth minute of stoppage time — as the Dynamo earned their seventh clean sheet of the year while snapping a three-game losing streak, all by 3-1 scores. Houston outshot St. Louis 18-7, putting six shots on frame.
It was another low-event night for St. Louis (3-11-6, 15 points), which fell to 1-11-4 in its last 16 matches. Goalie Roman Burki came up with five saves to help keep it in contention, but an offense that entered the night 25th in the league in goals simply never threatened Bond.
St. Louis’ only decent scoring chance prior to Teuchert’s shot came in the 78th minute, but Joao Klauss’ header sailed over the crossbar. Klauss came into the match on a roll, scoring a hat trick in a 3-3 tie with the LA Galaxy on June 14 and adding a goal in Wednesday night’s 4-2 defeat against Orlando City.
An early sign that it might be another long night for St. Louis came in the 15th minute when interim coach David Critchley was forced to sub out forward Alfredo Morales after he suffered an apparent injury. Akil Watts replaced Morales but wasn’t able to add much to the attack.
The match was the last Dynamo appearance for highly decorated midfielder Nico Lodeiro, who won two MLS Cups with Seattle in 2016 and 2019. Lodeiro, who subbed in during the 85th minute and took a handful of corners at the end, will join the national club in his native Uruguay.
–Field Level Media
