Houston Dynamo and the Columbus Crew traded early goals with a bit of irony, then watched an own goal settle matters as the visiting Orange took a 2-1 victory Sunday afternoon at Crew Stadium.
Dynamo have now won three matches in the last seven days, catapulting them from fourth to second in the Western Conference standings.
Sunday was the first meeting of the teams since a May 9 trade that sent Alejandro Moreno to Columbus and Joseph Ngwenya to Houston. Both players have been major contributors to their new teams, and both netted goals from headers in the first half.
Ngwenya got to the end of a Brad Davis corner kick in the 22nd minute and sent a glancing header off the inside of the back post and into the goal. It was his third consecutive match scoring a goal.
"[Ngwenya] had a very good week for us," said Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear. "Obviously everyone wants to talk about his goals, but his whole of play gave them problems today."
The mood in the Dynamo dressing room was understandably upbeat. It was the first time since last May, excluding postseason play, that Houston has won three consecutive matches.
"We picked up more points in seven days than we did the rest of the season, which is impressive," Kinnear said.
Despite the excitement of the three-game scoring streak, three wins in seven days and scoring against the club that dealt him away barely a month ago, Ngwenya was exceptionally stoic and emotionless after the game.
"Nothing special," he said. "Just another game and we're happy to get three points."
Extending the winning streak was in jeopardy as the second half wore on Sunday. Down a goal, Columbus pushed the attack and the Dynamo defense retreated like battered militia.
"At the end you might have called it a 4-6-0 [formation]," said Kinnear. "[Everyone] was dropping back and they had basically four guys across the top and you can't just let guys go."
Such is the path of the MLS schedule that three points anytime are always welcome. No matter how pretty or ugly, every goal and every win counts.
"We love playing beautiful, attractive soccer but to try and do that for 270 minutes in the course of seven days is a difficult thing to do," said Kinnear. "And results, in the end, are really what matters."
Nathan Linton is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
