Houston 1 - Kansas City 0

In a game that saw the return of Canadian internationals Dwayne De Rosario and Pat Onstad, the Houston Dynamo got a goal from an unlikely source to defeat the Kansas City Wizards 1-0 on Sunday afternoon. Defender Patrick Ianni’s strike in the 81st minute, his first-ever MLS goal, powered Houston to their fifth victory in as many games in the month of June.

It was the Wizards who went on the offensive early at Arrowhead Stadium. Seven minutes into the game, Scott Sealy took the first crack at Onstad when he ran onto a leading pass in the penalty area. Houston’s veteran goalkeeper barely had to move as the shot was right at him.

Seven minutes later, Wizards’ rookie-of-the-year candidate Michael Harrington had a similar chance, this time from the left. Onstad was again perfectly positioned and caught Harrington’s blast with no trouble.

Continuing to push forward, Kansas City’s Jose Burciaga had the next chance, firing a shot from the top of the box. Onstad was again on top of things, diving to his right to deny the Wizards for a third time in the first half.

The Wizards would get one more opportunity to take a lead into halftime when Jack Jewsbury raced into the box and blasted a rising liner in the 44th minute. Onstad was forced to use both hands to deflect the ball over the crossbar and keep the game scoreless at the break.

Despite having an abundance of chances in the first half, the Wizards could not find the back of the net. That trend would continue in the second half.

The only goal of the game would come off a corner kick with ten minutes to play. Houston’s Stuart Holden sent the ball in and defender Patrick Ianni rose above his defender to head the ball just inside the near post, beating Wizards keeper Kevin Hartman and keeping Houston perfect for the month of June. It also moved them back within three points of conference leaders FC Dallas.

Kansas City has now gone winless in their last three games, keeping them running behind New York and New England in the Eastern Conference.

Scoring
HOU – Patrick Ianni 1 (Stuart Holden) 81’

Line-ups
HOU – Pat Onstad, Patrick Ianni, Ryan Cochrane, Kelly Gray, Brian Mullan (Chris Wondolowski 86’), Brad Davis (Corey Ashe 67’), Craig Waibel, Stuart Holden, Wade Barrett, Richard Mulrooney, Joseph Ngwenya (Dwayne De Rosario 76’)

KC – Kevin Hartman, Michael Harrington, Nick Garcia, Kerry Zavagnin, Jose Burciaga Jr., Sasha Victorine, Carlos Marinelli (Ryan Pore 80’), Jimmy Conrad, Jack Jewsbury, Scott Sealy (Yura Movsisyan 51’), Davy Arnaud (Kurt Morsink 67’)