Ibrahim Aliyu’s goal in the 35th minute was the difference maker as the host Houston Dynamo defeated swooning short-handed San Diego FC 1-0 on Wednesday in a Western Conference match.

Jonathan Bond had to save just one shot to earn his second clean sheet of the season and secure consecutive shutouts for the Dynamo (4-4-0, 12 points).

San Diego FC (3-4-2, 11 points) dropped its fourth straight match and continued a winless stretch that’s covered six contests. San Diego hasn’t won a game since March 7.

The visitors controlled opening minutes but could not produce a shot on target. Houston did record the initial shot on goal when Mateusz Bogusz tested San Diego goalkeeper Duran Ferree in the 11th minute with a low-percentage shot that was easily gobbled up.

Houston opted to employ the counterattack, and it paid off with the game’s only goal. Dynamo defender Felipe Andrade started the decisive scoring play with a long clearing pass from his own end to Ondrej Lingr, who dribbled the ball deep into the box while drawing three defenders toward him.

Aliyu rushed up to the right of Lingr, who waited until the perfect time to feed Aliyu a pass that he corralled before ripping a shot under the right arm of Ferree and into the net in the 35th minute to put Houston on top.

Both teams had excellent chances to find the net in the middle of the second half. First, San Diego’s Alex Mighten was wide left into the outside of the net in the 60th minute; Bogusz and Aliyu missed the mark on shots for Houston in the 67th and 68th minutes, respectively.

Lingr then hit the left post from the center of the box with a shot in the 74th minute with a goal expectancy of 27%. The Dynamo’s Antonio Carlos was stopped on two shots after a corner kick in the 76th minute, with San Diego FC scrambling to keep its deficit at just one goal.

Things became much more difficult for the visitors in the 79th minute when Amahl Pellegrino was shown the red card for a dangerous high kick against Andrade just outside the box.

Bond secured the lead for Houston with a diving save of a deflected shot by Anders Dreyer in the 90th minute. San Diego was given a modicum of opportunity after Lingr was assessed a red card seven minutes into second-half stoppage time, but the Dynamo held on for the win.

–Field Level Media