Daniel Munie scored his fifth goal of the season shortly before halftime to lift the San Jose Earthquakes to a 1-0 victory over the visiting Houston Dynamo on Saturday night.
Angus Gunn made five saves for the Earthquakes (12-8-5, 41 points), who earned their second consecutive victory after an eight-match winless run.
The result lifted San Jose to fourth in the Western Conference, above St. Louis on the first tiebreaker of total wins.
Houston (13-8-4, 43 points) was shut out for the third time in four matches and for a second consecutive match against San Jose after the sides settled for a 0-0 draw in Texas on Aug. 29.
The Dynamo remain second in the West, above Dallas on the total-wins tiebreaker and three points behind Vancouver, which plays Sunday.
San Jose manager Bruce Arena improved his career record against Houston boss Ben Olsen — who played for Arena with D.C. United in 1998 — to 9-1-7 in MLS play.
Munie put the hosts in front seven minutes before halftime on the second phase of a corner kick.
Houston goalkeeper Jonathan Bond rose in traffic to swat away Niko Tsakiris’ initial in-swinging service into the 6-yard box.
The ball fell to Beau Leroux on the left edge of the penalty area. Leroux dribbled toward the byline past one charging defender, then slipped a low cross back across the goal. Munie beat Bond and others to the ball to poke in a first-time finish from 5 yards out.
Gunn was exceptional after halftime to preserve his second clean sheet and San Jose’s seventh, the other five coming with currently injured Brazilian goalkeeper Daniel between the pipes.
During a 60th-minute goalmouth scramble, Gunn saved Felipe Andrade’s effort at one post and Lucas Halter’s at the other, making the latter stop with his head on an attempt from extremely close range.
Five minutes later, Dynamo manager Ben Olsen sent on former Mexico national team star Hector Herrera in search of an equalizer.
But Gunn was again up to the task on Houston’s most dangerous late sequence, reacting to deny Nicholas Markanich’s initial header and then Herrera’s follow-up attempt with an outstretched leg.
–Field Level Media
