Ibrahim Aliyu scored in the 78th minute to help the Houston Dynamo defeat host Sporting Kansas City 2-1 on Saturday night.
With leading scorer Erik Thommy out for personal reasons, Kansas City (2-5-5, 11 points) started strikers 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 level the match. After a slow buildup from midfield, Memo Rodriguez found Salloi at the 18-yard line. Salloi put a spin move on three Houston defenders and fired a rocket past Houston keeper Steve Clark.
Houston, which had not scored in its previous three MLS matches, nearly regained the lead in the 67th minute. Erik Sviatchenko had a header off a corner kick from close range, but SKC keeper Tim Melia deflected it and Rodriquez cleared it off the line.
The Dynamo (5-4-2, 17 points) connected in the 78th minute. Clark lofted a kick to Griffin Dorsey on the right side of the field. Dorsey meandered up the sideline and then found Aliju, who one-timed it past Melia for a 2-1 lead. Sporting fell to 1-3-3 in seven home matches this season.
Rodriguez almost put Sporting up 1-0 in the 16th minute. He stole a clearance in the right flat and fired a shot that went just wide left of the goal.
After missing a couple of close opportunities, Houston took the 1-0 lead in the 31st minute on a beautiful set piece. Hector Herrera passed it to Amine Bassi, who passed it back to Herrera. Herrera found an opening just inside the box and he sailed it into the upper right corner of the net.
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