A determined performance led by Steven Gerrard gave the LA Galaxy a 1-0 win over the Houston Dynamo at the StubHub Center on Friday.
LA extended their league unbeaten streak to five games, which includes three consecutive wins, while Houston continued their sputtering form on the road, despite matching up with the Galaxy on the night in the main statistical categories.
The hosts' goal came in the 66th minute, as Robbie Keane was on a breakaway, but his shot attempt was blocked by Dynamo goalkeeper Joe Willis. The block produced a rebound, and with Willis well off his line having come out to make the stop, Gerrard completed his support run into the box and slotted home the shot off the rebound into an open net.
It had initially appeared the Galaxy would take an early lead after David Horst was called for a handball penalty in the seventh minute. But Keane's attempt from the spot missed the goal entirely, sailing right of the target.
Houston Dynamo (4-9-6, 18 points) vs. LA Galaxy (8-3-8, 32 points)
MLS Regular Season
July 15, 2016— StubHub Center — Carson, California
Attendance: 25,667
Scoring Summary:
LAG: Steven Gerrard 3 (unassisted) 66
Houston Dynamo: Joe Willis; Sheanon Williams (Mauro Manotas 86), Raul Rodriguez, David Horst, Jalil Anibabal; Collen Warner; Boniek GarcÃa (Cristian Maidana 62), Alex Lima, Ricardo Clark ©, Andrew Wenger (Erick Torres 81); Giles Barnes
Unused Substitutes: Calle Brown, Agus, Abdoulie Mansally, Will Bruin
TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Giles Barnes 6) SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (Alex 2) FOULS: 10 (Sheanon Williams 3); OFFSIDES: 2 (Boniek Garcia, Sheanon Williams tied with 1) CORNER KICKS: 4 (Boniek Garcia and Cristian Maidana tied with 2); SAVES: 3
LA Galaxy: Brian Rowe; A.J. DeLaGarza, Daniel Steres, Jelle Van Damme, Dave Romney; Baggio Husidic, Jeff Larentowicz; Giovani Dos Santos (Sebastien Lletget 89), Steven Gerrard (Mike Magee 80), Gyasi Zardes; Robbie Keane ©
Unused Substitutes: Dan Kennedy, Leonardo, Rafael Garcia, Alan Gordon, Emmanuel Boateng
TOTAL SHOTS: 8 (Robbie Keane 4) SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (Giovani Dos Santos, Gyasi Zardes, Steven Gerrard and Robbie Keane tied with 1) FOULS: 11 (Jeff Larentowicz 5); OFFSIDES: 4 (Robbie Keane 3) CORNER KICKS: 1 (Steven Gerrard 1); SAVES: 4
Misconduct Summary:
HOU: Collen Warner (caution) 24
LAG: Giovani Dos Santos (caution) 55
LAG: Jeff Larentowicz (caution) 64
Referee: Mark Geiger
Assistant Referees: Eric Boria, Logan Brown
Fourth Official: Alex Chilowicz
