HOUSTON (AP) — Corey Baird and Ibrahim Aliyu each scored, Steve Clark earned his MLS-leading 11th clean sheet of the season, and the Houston Dynamo beat the Columbus Crew 2-0 on Wednesday night.
Houston (11-10-5) is unbeaten at 6-0-3 in its last nine home matches against the Crew. Columbus (12-8-6) was held scoreless for the second time this season.
Baird scored his fifth goal in the last seven games — in all competitions — to begin the scoring in the 14th minute. His initial shot was saved by Patrick Schulte, but he tapped home the rebound.
Aliyu scored on a breakaway in the 90th minute. He outran the defense for Héctor Herrera’s through ball and scored from a difficult angle.
Herrera has 13 assists this season. Carlos Vela is the only Mexican player with more assists in a single season when he totaled 15 in 2019.
Clark, who made three saves, is tied with Seattle’s Stefan Frei for the most clean sheets in the MLS.
Columbus travels to play CF Montreal on Saturday. Houston hits the road to play the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday.
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