VANCOUVER — The red-hot Houston Dynamo climbed to the top of Major League Soccer’s Western Conference standings with a 1-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday night.
Franco Negri gave the visitors the lead in the 34th minute and the Dynamo (12-6-2) didn’t look back, claiming their fifth straight victory in MLS play.
The ‘Caps (11-4-4) appeared to score midway through the second half but Rayan Elloumi’s goal was called back after video review.
The home side controlled 61.9 per cent of possession across the game and outshot the Dynamo 16-7, but managed just one shot on target.
Vancouver came in sitting first in the conference standings following a 2-0 victory over their regional rival Seattle Sounders on Sunday.
Houston is unbeaten in its last eight contests and has not conceded a goal since battling D.C. United to a 1-1 draw on July 22.
The Dynamo nearly opened the scoring in the 16th minute Wednesday off a free kick in the midfield.
The ball fell in the penalty area and rolled to Hector Herrera, who hammered a shot on target, but ‘Caps centre back Mathias Laborda blocked it on the goal line.
Houston had a breakaway later in the half where Laborda poked the ball off the foot of Mateusz Bogusz just above the 18-yard box.
It then popped out to Negri, who fired a long bomb into the top corner of Vancouver’s net to give the Dynamo a 1-0 lead in the 34th minute.
The Whitecaps got a prime opportunity to respond five minutes later after Agustin Resch was shown a yellow card for taking down Cheikh Sabaly, gifting Vancouver a free kick inside the penalty arc.
Oliver Larraz took the set piece, sending his attempt into Houston’s wall.
Sabaly came close to levelling the score in first-half injury time with a shot from the top of the six-yard box that pinged off the left post.
Vancouver controlled 57.3 per cent of possession across the first half and outshot the visitors 5-4, but Houston had the edge in on-target shots at 2-0.
The home side had another solid chance early in the second half when captain Ryan Gauld sprang Elloumi with a long ball up the middle of the field.
The teenage striker sprinted through a pair of defenders to get to it and took a couple of strides into the area before sending a rocket just wide of the post.
The ‘Caps briefly appeared to knot the score at 1-1 in the 64th minute.
Emmanuel Sabbi put a shot through a pair of defenders and Elloumi slid in from just above the goal line to direct it into the Houston net.
Referee Ricardo Montero Araya went to a sideline monitor for a video review and the play was overturned for a foul by Larraz in the buildup.
There was pushing and shoving in the game’s final moments after Larraz was taken down inside the penalty area without a call, prompting chants of “ref you suck!” from the announced crowd of 22,849.
Whitecaps: Host FC Dallas on Saturday.
Dynamo: Visit St. Louis City on Saturday.