D.C. United got first-half goals from Christian Gomez and Ben Olsen, then held on down the stretch as they won for the third consecutive match, defeating Houston Dynamo 2-1 at RFK Stadium on Saturday evening.
RFK Stadium was buzzing with noise even before the kickoff as United's home fans took their seats, and Gomez quickly sparked the proceedings into life with an early free kick that beat Dynamo 'keeper Pat Onstad in spectacular fashion.
After earning a free kick some 25 yards out thanks to Ricardo Clark's clumsy challenge, Gomez stepped up to hammer a bending blast over the wall and into the upper corner past Onstad's outstretched fingers for a 1-0 United lead as the old stadium erupted.
But Dynamo quickly responded, as Brad Davis found space on the left wing to curl a low cross into the box that Brian Ching met with an athletic diving header that was nicked off target by Bobby Boswell's outstretched boot.
Nine minutes in, United's Brazilian contingent played a quick combination that nearly found paydirt as Fred's beautifully weighted flick gave Luciano Emilio a good look at goal, but he lost his footing and dribbled his shot straight to Onstad.
Ching should have drawn his side level in the 13th minute when he got onto the end of another Davis cross - this time from the right - with nary a defender in sight, but his aerial acumen deserted him as he headed straight into United 'keeper Troy Perkins' midsection.
Decked out in fluorescent yellow boots, Davis was looking particularly lively for the visitors and his knuckling blast from distance forced an alert parry from Perkins in the 16th minute.
Chasing down Emilio's flick-on into the box in the 24th minute, Guy Roland-Kpene looked to have a step on Eddie Robinson when the Houston center back knocked the D.C. striker to the turf with a robust shoulder charge. Referee Jair Marrufo earned the crowd's ire when he waved play on, but their anger was forgotten just three minutes later when Gomez set up Olsen for his first goal of the season to double United's advantage.
The Argentinean playmaker had done well to keep possession after receiving a pass from Emilio, then held off Davis before slotting a soft through ball into the path of Olsen's slashing run from the left. Onstad was able to get a touch to his first-time shot but could not keep it from spinning into the far side of the net.
Dynamo were lacking the service that their attack thrives on, but several first-half corners provided a reminder of their aerial threat as first Ching, then Clark, saw close-range headers thwarted by tight D.C. marking.
Down 2-0 after 45 minutes, Houston coach Dominic Kinnear made one change at the break, inserting Craig Waibel for Ryan Cochrane on the back line.
Ching wasted another good service from Davis five minutes after the restart, heading over from six yards out. But the tall Hawaiian earned a dangerous free kick moments later when he took Facundo Erpen's boot in his face at the edge of the United box - but Dwayne De Rosario skied his shot over the crossbar on the resulting set piece.
The Canadian international was in the midst of another display that mirrored his season-long struggles, and showed his frustration with a hard challenge on Gomez that earned him a booking in the 65th minute.
Dynamo rookie Corey Ashe came on in place of Joseph Ngwenya with 20 minutes remaining and made an immediate impact, scampering down the left flank to send in a high cross that Ching was well-placed to finish - but first it hit the flailing arm of Josh Gros, prompting Marrufo to point to the spot.
Perkins guessed the right way on De Rosario's penalty kick, however, and touched the blast onto the crossbar to preserve the shutout. But the resulting euphoria lasted less than a minute as Richard Mulrooney sent in a cross that Perkins, no doubt still pumped from his save, raced off his line to claim in traffic.
The United netminder's clearing punch lacked power and fell straight to Waibel, who passed to De Rosario - and when both Fred and Gros lunged to block his shot, Houston's playmaker calmly cut to his left and steadied himself to blast a low shot past Perkins to give the visitors new life.
Rod Dyachenko made his first appearance of the season for United in the closing moments, replacing Gomez as D.C. looked to run out the clock and preserve their victory. With canny possession and tight marking in the final third that prevented Houston from getting any clear shots on goal, they were able to do so despite four minutes of stoppage time.
The win moved United's unbeaten streak to four games, and while Dynamo finally scored a goal in defeat -- each of their previous losses had been by 1-0 scorelines -- it wasn't enough to prevent a fifth reverse in their last six games.
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
