Will Bruin scored the only goal of the game as Houston Dynamo recorded a 1-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City, who missed an opportunity to climb up to second in the Western Conference.
The Dynamo were the brighter of the two sides in the early stages of the match, but chances were difficult to come by as the hosts looked to recover from successive defeats.
In a first half which ended with neither side creating a clear opportunity, Giles Barnes threatened to break the deadlock with a speculative long-range strike which drifted over the crossbar.
Houston asked more of the questions after the break, but there was more frustration for the home fans when Barnes delivered a cross which was just too strong for the sliding Bruin.
However, the pressure was piled on the hosts a few moments later when Boniek Garcia picked up a second yellow card for a late tackle on Dom Dwyer.
Predictably, a spell of Kansas dominance did arrive as they searched for a late equaliser but their best opportunity was wasted when Paulo Nagamura sent a free header over the crossbar.
Their luck changed with just over 20 minutes remaining when Brad Davis and Damarcus Beasley combined, before the latter's cross was tipped away by Tim Melia, which allowed Bruin to tap in from close range.
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