Ibrahim Aliyu scored late in the first half and the Houston Dynamo won for the first time this season, defeating the visiting Portland Timbers 1-0 on Saturday night.
Dynamo goalkeeper Steve Clark made four saves as Houston (1-1-1, 4 points) held on during some hectic late-match stretches that included five minutes of stoppage time.
Portland (2-1-1, 7 points) didn’t convert on its 18 shot attempts, putting only four of those on goal.
Aliyu scored in the 43rd minute on Houston’s only shot on goal in the first half. It developed as Aliyu and two Portland players — goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau and Juan Mosquera — all came together in front of the goal. The ball squirted away and Aliyu was the only player with a path to it, making for an easy uncontested conversion.
That gave Aliyu, a 22-year-old forward, a goal in back-to-back matches. He has five career MLS goals in 19 matches.
The match’s lone goal also was a reward for the Dynamo’s ability to make connecting passes in the first half and handle much of the possession time.
Clark, who had 13 clean sheets last year, picked up his 21st career shutout in MLS play. Portland had scored eight goals across its first three matches of the season.
Crepeau made three saves for the Timbers.
By the match’s end, the Dynamo was called for 16 fouls, was assessed three yellow cards and withstood four corner kicks by the Timbers.
It was the first loss for Portland under first-year coach Phil Neville.
–Field Level Media
