Sandy • Corey Baird and defender Daniel Steres scored first-half goals to guide Houston to a 3-0 victory over Real Salt Lake on Saturday night, snapping the Dynamo’s 11-match winless streak in the Major League Soccer series and ending RSL’s nine-match MLS unbeaten run.
Baird scored his fifth goal of the season to give Houston (10-10-5) the lead in the 9th minute. Defender Brad Smith notched an assist.
The Dynamo beat Real Salt Lake for the second time in four days. Houston defeated RSL 3-1 in a U.S. Open Cup semifinal on Wednesday night.
On Saturday, Steres found the net in the 29th minute when he took a pass from Héctor Herrera and scored for the first time this season. Adalberto Carrasquilla scored off an assist from Ibrahim Aliyu in the 75th minute to complete the scoring with his second netter of the campaign.
Steve Clark finished with one save to earn his 10th clean sheet of the season for the Dynamo, one behind league leader Stefan Frei of the Seattle Sounders.
Gavin Beaver saved one shot for Real Salt Lake (10-8-7), which had gone 5-0-6 in its club-record run against Houston. It was the Dynamo’s longest winless streak against any opponent.
Real Salt Lake entered play having gone 6-0-3 in its previous nine Major League Soccer outings. The club was trying for its fourth streak of 10 or more, setting the club record at 12 in 2014.
The Dynamo snapped a nine-match winless streak in all competitions with a 5-0 victory over the Portland Timbers on Aug. 20, setting a club record with three goals in the first 14 minutes.
Real Salt Lake travels to play the Portland Timbers on Wednesday. Houston travels to play the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday.