Forget about that winless regular-season record against the New England Revolution and the poor record on artificial surfaces. The Houston Dynamo pushed those demons aside with a comprehensive 2-0 victory against the Revolution at Gillette Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Stuart Holden opened the scoring in the 22nd minute after Matt Reis let Holden's long-range shot dribble through his legs. Brian Ching secured the points in the 58th minute by powering home a header from a Brad Davis corner kick.
The victory gave the Dynamo its first regular-season win against New England since the team moved to Houston, snapping a six-match winless streak against the Revolution in the process. In the process, the Dynamo sent New England to its second consecutive loss and extended the Revs' scoreless streak to 220 minutes.
Houston coach Dominic Kinnear named an unchanged lineup from the Dynamo's last match, a 1-0 victory over Colorado on April 19. New signing Ade Akinbiyi had to settle for a place on the bench as a a result of the unchanged side.
After losing 6-0 at Real Salt Lake last weekend, the Revolution shifted back to a 3-5-2 formation in an attempt to generate additional offense. Revs boss Steve Nicol inserted Mike Videira -- fresh off his MLS debut -- as an attacking midfielder and dropped left back Chris Tierney to the bench. Kheli Dube and Kenny Mansally partnered up top with Taylor Twellman surprisingly named among the substitutes.
Houston started the brighter of the two sides as New England struggled to cope with the Dynamo's early pressure. Wide players Brad Davis and Brian Mullan looked particularly active in exploiting the wide spaces in the Revs' three-man back line.
Mullan created the first chance of the match on 19 minutes by twisting through Wells Thompson and Jeff Larentowicz to create room for a cross. The veteran winger instead decided to pull back for Kei Kamara, but the Sierra Leone striker had his shot blocked by Matt Reis' trailing leg.
Reis looked decidedly less lithe three minutes later when he conceded the opener. Holden hit a low, bouncing shot on goal from outside the area. Reis drove to collect the dribbler, but the ball squirted through his legs and ended up in the back of the net instead. It was an unwelcome return to the side for Reis after missing the previous four games with a knee injury.
The match settled into midfield as the Revs struggled to maintain possession and the Dynamo were content to hold on to the ball and wait for opportunities to press forward.
Houston were forced into one change prior to halftime as Wade Barrett limped off injured. Canadian defender Andrew Hainault came on for his MLS debut at left back.
Ching called Reis into action again in the 57th minute after he wriggled free down the right hand side and hammered an effort towards the near post. Reis held his angles well and diverted the ball out for a corner kick.
The Dynamo striker would not be denied from the resulting corner kick as he rose unmarked to meet Brad Davis' corner kick and divert it past Reis to extend the lead.
By then, it was more than clear that it wouldn't be the Revolution's day. Reis saved another Kamara effort in the aftermath of the second goal to keep the score line respectable.
Jeff Larentowicz registered New England's first shot on goal in the 63rd minute, though the tame header didn't trouble Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad.
Nicol sent on Cameroonian striker Stephane Assengue for his MLS debut two minutes later in an attempt to interject some life into a moribund attack. The 19-year-old striker almost marked his debut with a goal in the 72nd minute, but his neat touch and volley just missed Onstad's far post.
Despite pushing numbers forward and acquiring more of the ball than they'd enjoyed for most of the day, New England couldn't find a way past Onstad to snuff out a scoreless streak now into its third game.
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
