CARSON, Calif. -- The month of May is already proving to be far kinder to the Houston Dynamo than April was.
After stumbling through the previous month by grabbing only two points from five matches, the Dynamo dissected the Chivas USA defense Saturday night for a dominant 4-1 victory at StubHub Center, their first on the road this year.
The misery was well spread heading into the meeting -- the clubs had gone a combined 13 straight games without a win. Houston got two goals on the night from Giles Barnes, and one apiece from Brad Davis and Will Bruin to snap their streak, while Chivas USA saw their winless drought extend to eight games.
The Dynamo were clinical in the first half, scoring more goals in those 48 minutes than they had the entire month of April. Davis got on the score sheet first, maneuvering past Eric Avila and Bobby Burling to tie the score in the 12th minute, before Barnes had the go-ahead score with a scintillating shot in the 32nd minute, making the most of space in front of him following a long pass from Boniek García.
Bruin netted his team-leading fifth goal of the year two minutes into first-half stoppage time, boxing out defender Carlos Bocanegra and easily beating Tim Melia, who was starting in place of Dan Kennedy (red card suspension), for the 3-1 lead at halftime. Bruin was at it again in the 67th minute, earning a penalty kick, sending Melia to the locker room early and paving the way for Barnes’ second of the night.
The lone bright spot for Chivas USA came in the seventh minute when they grabbed a quick lead. Erick “Cubo” Torres cashed in a penalty kick after Davis brought down Carlos Alvarez inside the box, scoring his seventh goal of the season and fourth from the penalty spot. The Rojiblancos struggled to generate any offense without attacking midfielder Mauro Rosales, who missed the game and sat out training all week with a right adductor strain.
Saturday marked the clubs’ only regular-season meeting this year. The Dynamo (3-4-2) continued their dominance in the series, taking their 12th victory in 19 all-time games. Chivas USA (1-5-3) dropped their third consecutive game.
The Dynamo return home for a midweek matchup with the Columbus Crew, while Chivas USA hit the road to face the Colorado Rapids on May 11.
