Two goals separated by four hours and two calendar days saw the Houston Dynamo overcome D.C. United and the unforgiving weather Wednesday night in Washington D.C.
A dominating first-half performance from the two-time defending champions gave them a 1-0 lead into the 2 hour, 50 minute weather delay that punctuated a game already twice rescheduled because of the elements.
The Dynamo picked up where they left off following the delay, starting with 53 minutes on the clock. After adding to their tally of chances created and missed, striker Brian Ching finally gave Houston a deserved second goal, thumping home a header from Brad Davis' free-kick in the 79th minute.
Brian Mullan had earlier given the Dynamo a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute, turning D.C. left back Gonzalo Martinez inside-out before rifling a left-footed shot into the top corner of Zack Wells' net.
Mullan had already spurned two guilt-edged chances after beating Martinez on the right wing.
The United left-back cemented a night to forget with a late tackle on De Rosario that earned him a straight red card with 8 minutes remaining.
The Houston goal seemed to spark the hosts into action, and D.C. started to throw bodies forward. Yet the increased pressure served mostly to give makeshift striker and MLS All-Star Dwayne De Rosario more room to operate behind the defense, and Wells had to venture far off his line to cut out Geoff Cameron's 60-yard through ball which had carved United open.
De Rosario surged into the box moments later as the Dynamo once again unlocked the hosts' backline, but former Dynamo backup Wells saved well to his right.
Little was heard from league MVP Luciano Emilio and MLS all-time leading scorer Jaime Moreno leading the United front line. Effectively marshalling that duo were Dynamo center-backs Bobby Boswell and Eddie Robinson, who was booked for a crude challenge on Emilio in the 16th minute.
Yet it was not all good news in the first half for the defending champions as Robinson, back from suspension and injury, was subbed out of the game in the 41st minute with an apparent hamstring injury after lunging into a tackle on Moreno. Second-year defender and U.S. Olympian Patrick Ianni came off the bench to fill the void.
Last season, Robinson was the rock to a defensive unit that set the MLS record with 727 consecutive shutout minutes. This season, his campaign and the team as a whole have struggled to find the same kind of consistency as injuries and suspensions have taken their toll.
Following the resumption of play at 11:45 p.m. local time, the waterlogged pitch turned the free-flowing game into a mistake-plagued battle of attrition. But behind two critical saves from goalkeeper Pat Onstad and Ching's clinical finish, Houston rode its early momentum to a comfortable win.
The loss snaps a four-game MLS winning streak and 6-game unbeaten run for D.C. while also marking the first time United have lost four straight home games after three successive defeats in SuperLiga.
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