A pair of goals near the end of the first half, including an own goal, propelled the Los Angeles Galaxy to a 3-0 road win over the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night.
The victory was the second straight for L.A. (13-11-6, 45 points) after it endured a nine-match winless streak. Before Saturday, the Galaxy hadn’t won a game in more than two months.
Houston’s unbeaten home stretch ended at four matches. The Dynamo (6-13-12, 30 points) fell to 1-3-1 in their past five contests overall.
The Galaxy sustained a pair of yellow cards in the first half, but it was a yellow card on Dynamo defender Maynor Figueroa that opened the door for Los Angeles to put itself in position to change the direction of the match.
Los Angeles struck first when midfielder Sacha Kljestan, the hero of the Galaxy’s win over Seattle on Saturday, scored a goal in his second straight match. He beat Dynamo netminder Michael Nelson on a penalty kick in the 39th minute.
A minute into first-half stoppage time, Houston gifted a goal to Los Angeles. Zarek Valentin deflected a Galaxy shot into his own net to extend the lead to 2-0 at intermission.
The Galaxy didn’t take long after the break to put the match away. Forward Kevin Cabral scored his fifth goal of the season to make it 3-0 at the 47th minute. Cabral’s goal was assisted by fellow forward Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, who logged his third helper of the 2021 campaign before he was replaced by Dejan Joveljic in the 60th minute.
Houston was held without a goal for the eighth time this season as Los Angeles netminder Jonathan Bond made seven saves. Nelson stopped three shots.
The Dynamo’s offense had brief spurts in the latter portion of the second half, yet it was not enough to stop Los Angeles coach Greg Vanney from recording the 100th regular-season victory of his career. Vanney, who has a 100-79-54 mark, is the 12th coach to reach the milestone in league history.
–Field Level Media
