Ibrahim Aliyu takes Dynamo past Sporting Kansas City

Ibrahim Aliyu scored in the 78th minute to help Houston Dynamo defeat host Sporting Kansas City 2-1 on Saturday night.

With the absence of top scorer Erik Thommy for personal reasons, Kansas City (2-5-5, 11 points) launched forwards Alan Pulido, Daniel Salloi, Johnny Russell and Willy Agada on the front line. Salloi and Russell, two of Sporting’s most reliable scorers in recent years, had not scored a goal in the team’s first 11 games.

Salloi finally connected in the 61st minute to tie the match. After a slow build-up from midfield, Memo Rodriguez found Salloi at the 18-yard line. Salloi made a spin move over three Houston defenders and fired a rocket past Houston goalie Steve Clark.

Houston, who had not scored in their previous three MLS matches, nearly regained the lead in the 67th minute. Erik Sviatchenko headed in from a point-blank corner, but SKC goalkeeper Tim Melia deflected it and Rodriquez cleared it off the line.

Dynamo (5-4-2, 17 points) continues in the 78th minute. Clark threw a kick to Griffin Dorsey on the right side of the field. Dorsey meandered down the sideline, then found Aliju, who beat Melia with one shot to take a 2-1 lead. Sporting fell to 1-3-3 in seven home matches this season.

Rodriguez almost gave Sporting a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute. He stole a clearance in the right flat and fired a shot that went just wide of the goal.

After missing a few close chances, Houston took a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute on a beautiful free kick. Hector Herrera passed it on to Amine Bassi, who gave it back to Herrera. Herrera found an opening just inside the box and sent it into the top right corner of the net.

–Field level media