Bongokuhle Hlongwane scored a brace as Minnesota United tallied three times in a 11-minute span midway through the second half en route to a 3-1 victory over Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night in Saint Paul, Minn.

Robin Lod also scored a goal and Wessel Speel finished with one save for the Loons (9-4-6, 33 points), who sit in third place in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference.

Felipe Andrade scored a goal and Jonathan Bond had one save for Houston (5-9-5, 20 points), which took its third straight loss.

Hlongwane gave the Loons a 1-0 lead in the 60th minute. The midfielder finished a right-footed redirect from the left side of the 6-yard box off a Jefferson Diaz flick-on header from Michael Boxall’s long throw-in.

Three minute later, Hlongwane smashed in an Anthony Markanich cross from the left baseline to make it 2-0 with his third goal of the season.

Lod extended the lead to 3-0 in the 70th minute, drilling a left-footed shot from the left side of the box into the far right corner off a long curling Julian Gressel cross from the right wing.

Andrade broke up Speel’s bid for his first career MLS clean sheet in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time when he netted a left-footed shot from the middle of the box into the left corner for his third goal.

With both teams coming in off two-goal home losses, defense dominated during a chippy, foul-plagued scoreless first half. The two teams combined for just nine shot attempts compared to 20 total fouls, with each side getting just one shot on goal and one yellow card.

Houston’s best early scoring chance came in the eighth minute when defender Erik Sviatchenko fired a spinning left-footed shot from the center of the box that Speel easily saved. Minnesota’s best attempt came in the 33rd minute after Lod stole the ball and passed to a wide-open Markanich at the left edge of the 6-yard box. Markanich scuffed his shot into the side of the net.

Boxall, named to his first MLS All-Star team earlier in the day, was originally called for a foul in the penalty box after a slide tackle on Sebastian Kowalczyk in first-half stoppage time. However, after a lengthy video review, it was determined that the foul occurred just outside the box. Ezequiel Ponce’s ensuing free kick was then blocked by the wall.

–Field Level Media