San Jose goalkeeper Angus Gunn recorded his first clean sheet in his seventh MLS start without having to make a save as the visiting Earthquakes and Houston Dynamo played to a dreary scoreless draw Saturday in a Western Conference dustup.
Gunn had given up 18 goals over the Earthquakes’ past six matches but the Dynamo never even tested the rookie keeper from Scotland.
Houston keeper Jonathan Bond turned away four shots to post his ninth shutout of the year and sixth clean sheet in his last seven games.
The Earthquakes (10-8-4, 34 points) snapped a four-game losing streak but are still winless since their return from the World Cup break, dropping four of their five games in the month of August and five of the seven matches they’ve played (with two draws) since July 22. Despite the swoon San Jose is in fourth place in the conference.
Houston (12-7-3, 39 points) has just one point from two matches in its past two games after having its eight-match unbeaten streak (6-0-2) ended at St. Louis on Aug. 22. The Dynamo remain in second place in the West.
San Jose finished with a 12-9 edge in shots and owned advantages in possession (52.1%-47.9%), blocked shots (6-4), total passes (519-374) and passing accuracy (88.3%-82.6%).
The Earthquakes outshot Houston 5-3 in a plodding first half and produced the half’s only shot on target: Ousseni Bouda’s try in the 14th minute that carried a 31% goal expectation but was stopped by Bond.
Felipe Andrade had the Dynamo’s best chance to find the net in the half but his header in the 34th minute missed the mark despite a 26% expectation of scoring.
San Jose’s Reid Roberts and the newly acquired Eduard Lowen had low-percentage shots on goal in the 54th and 56th minute, respectively, that were gobbled up by Bond.
Nick Fernandez has the Earthquakes’ only other shot on goal but Bond was up to the task in the 77th minute to keep the game scoreless.
–Field Level Media
