So much for tired legs and poor road form.
The Houston Dynamo, following a weekend win in LA and the resulting cross-country flight, showed no signs of fatigue in extending their unbeaten streak to five matches in dismantling last-place D.C. United 4-0 on a rainy Wednesday evening at RFK Stadium.
Dynamo forward Will Bruin scored a brace and picked up a pair of assists in what was Houston’s sixth victory of the season (6-2-2, 20 points), while United (1-7-1, 4 points) lost its sixth consecutive match and was shutout for the sixth time in nine attempts.
OPTA Chalkboard: United can't stop anything Houston tries
Houston opened the scoring against a lifeless United club in the 16th minute when Bruin settled a ball from Boniek Garcia, beat United defender Dejan Jakovic and then chipped it neatly over D.C. goalkeeper Bill Hamid for his third of the year.
Twelve minutes later Houston struck again, taking advantage of an abysmal play by United. Pressured in their own end, Jakovic passed the ball to Hamid in a tight space and United’s goalkeeper cleared it directly to Bruin, who tapped it to a wide-open Giles Barnes for an uncontested finish.
Bruin’s second goal came in the 78th minute when Brian Ching headed a Brad Davis free kick across the six for Bruin one-time through Hamid’s legs. Helping Houston add to what already was a season-high in goals, Andrew Driver banged home a pass from Bruin 10 minutes later for the coup de grace.
United’s best chance came in the 62nd minute when a corner kick found the head of Dwayne De Rosario, who fired on target. However, Dynamo defender Kofi Sarkodie kneed the first attempt away from harm, then scurried across the goal mouth and slid to clear the rebound effort as well in a remarkable individual play.
In an attempt to generate more offense, United coach Ben Olsen benched forward Lionard Pajoy for the first time this season, starting Designated Player Rafael in his place. United’s Nick DeLeon, who missed six weeks with a hamstring injury, subbed on in the 70th minute, while Houston’s Ricardo Clark wasn’t in the 18 as he continues to recover from a groin injury.
Houston will attempt to continue its strong form when they play host to Kansas City on Sunday. United, meanwhile, will again try to salvage their quickly-sinking season Saturday in Dallas.
