Blake Gillingham made two saves and Jack McGlynn scored the only goal in the Houston Dynamo’s 1-0 win over visiting Los Angeles FC on Saturday.
McGlynn broke open a scoreless match in the 57th minute after taking the ball on the right side and racing to the center of the field. The midfielder launched a perfectly placed strike from outside the box that snuck inside the post for his first goal in a Dynamo uniform.
Houston (1-4-2, five points) won its first match of the season.
Gillingham now has two shutouts in three career MLS matches. With goalkeepers Andrew Tarbell and Jimmy Maurer sidelined by injuries, Gillingham has looked sharp after being pressed into starting duty in his first MLS season.
Gillingham’s clean sheet was highlighted by a spectacular jumping stop on Eddie Segura’s header in the 80th minute. Segura was inches from the equalizer but Gillingham leapt to get a hand on the ball and knock it aside.
Segura had another dangerous header attempt six minutes into second-half stoppage time, but the defender’s shot went wide of the post. Segura led LAFC with three shots in the match.
Los Angeles FC (3-4-0, nine points) have outscored opponents 4-0 in their three victories this season. In four defeats, however, they have been outscored 10-4.
Denis Bouanga had two shots in the match. After recording 20 goals in each of his first two seasons in Los Angeles, Bouanga has yet to score in six regular-season matches this year.
Acquired from the Philadelphia Union in a preseason trade, McGlynn has a goal and two assists in his six matches with Houston. McGlynn’s playmaking was again on display Saturday, as he led the Dynamo with four shots.
Houston held 59.3% of the possession in the match, but had only three shots on target and were overall outshot by a 12-11 margin. The Dynamo’s 13 shots on target this season are tied for the fewest in the league.
The start of the match was delayed by 30 minutes, as the field needed more time to be restored following a rainstorm earlier in the day.
–Field Level Media
