Albert Rusnak scored and Stefan Frei posted his MLS-leading 11th shutout of the season as the host Seattle Sounders defeated the short-handed Houston Dynamo 1-0 Saturday night.
Frei made two saves, the last on Thorleifur Ulfarsson's header in second-half stoppage time, as the Sounders (9-7-5, 32 points) snapped a five-match winless streak (0-2-3) and posted their first victory since May 27.
Steve Clark made four saves for the Dynamo (8-9-3, 27 points), who lost their second straight match and missed a chance to move past Seattle and into third place in the Western Conference. Houston played the final 28-plus minutes with 10 players after defender Micael received yellow cards in both the 61st and 62nd minutes and was sent off.
Rusnak scored in the 67th minute off a cross from Leo Chu, who played a give-and-go with Nicolas Lodeiro at the top left corner of the penalty area. Chu got the ball back near the end line and, with Raul Ruidiaz hustling toward the net, found the trailing Rusnak wide open just outside the top of the 6-yard box. Rusnak blasted a left-footed shot into the middle of the net.
The match was reminiscent of the first meeting of the season between the clubs -- May 13 at Houston. The Dynamo finished that match with nine players after a pair of red cards, with the Sounders' Paul Rothrock scoring the lone goal in the 87th minute.
Both teams nearly snapped the scoreless tie early in the second half.
In the 47th minute, Houston defenders misplayed a cross at the top of the 6-yard box. Lodeiro appeared to have a clear shot on net, but Erik Sviatchenko made a sliding tackle to knock the ball out of bounds.
The Dynamo's Artur hit the right post on a shot from outside the penalty area in the 49th minute.
The Sounders outshot the Dynamo 5-3 in the first half, with a 3-1 edge in attempts on target.
All three of Clark's saves before the half came in the opening 15 minutes. He easily stopped long-range attempts from Ruidiaz in the sixth minute and Rusnak in the ninth. Clark also cradled Nouhou Tolo's header off a Lodeiro corner in the 13th minute.
Frei's lone save in the first half came in the fourth minute on Nelson Quinones' shot from outside the penalty area.
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