Red-hot Dynamo down first-place Chivas

First-half Holden strike gives Houston fourth straight victory

Stuart Holden and the Dynamo are unbeaten in their last eight meetings against Chivas USA. (Getty)

Stuart Holden scored a late first-half goal and goalkeeper Pat Onstad needed to make just one save as the Dynamo improved to 7-0-2 in their last nine matches to pull within three points of first-place Chivas in the Western Conference standings.

Before Wednesday, Chivas had just one loss in its last seven matches.

They beat Onstad in the teams' first-ever meeting in Houston, way back on July 8, 2006 in a 3-1 Orange win. Since then it has been all Houston, which is unbeaten in its last eight meetings overall against Chivas USA. In addition, Chivas USA has now not scored a goal in Houston in the last 645 minutes of playing time.

All time, Houston improved to 5-1-5 against their Western Conference rivals. In each of the last two seasons, the Dynamo and Chivas have finished 1-2 in the the regular season standings.

Cam Weaver made his Dynamo debut, played a solid match and notched an assist in his second consecutive game at Robertson Stadium. Weaver, who looked a lot like former Dynamo forward Nate Jaqua at times, assisted on San Jose's goal in a 3-1 loss in Houston on May 23.

Holden gave the Orange a 1-0 advantage two minutes into stoppage time when he finished a near perfect sequence by Onstad and Weaver.

With time winding down, Onstad launched a goal kick 60 yards down field where Weaver, acquired for Chris Wondolowski and a draft pick Tuesday, sent an onside header to Holden.

Holden used his speed to get around Chivas defender Carey Talley and ran for daylight. With nothing between he and Chivas goalkeeper Zach Thornton, Holden moved to his left, got by the 'keeper and sent the ball into an empty net.

Houston outshot Chivas 7-0 and dominated play in the first half.

In the fourth minute, Kei Kamara settled a pass in the box and nearly scored early but his shot went wide right in good coverage.

Seven minutes later, defender Bobby Boswell just missed a header, but the rebound found Richard Mulrooney at the top of the box in open space. Mulrooney had a good look, but his shot was stopped easily by Thornton.

Then, in the 33rd minute, Brad Davis missed Kei Kamara with a cross but the ball bounced right to Holden who missed the far post with a low shot.

At that point, it was all Dynamo, and the Orange nearly made it 2-0 early in the second half, but Weaver, in a bid for a two-point night, had a goal waved off when he was went offside just before taking a pass from Kamara.

Chivas had a good chance in the 83rd minute to get the equalizer when Maykel Galindo stopped with the ball and sent a rising shot toward Onstad. But the Dynamo 'keeper read the play and deflected the ball well out of harm's way, setting up a harmless Chivas corner kick.

Andrew J. Ferraro is a contributor to MLSnet.com.

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