The Houston Dynamo continue to be unbeatable at home across all competitions.
Will Bruin and Giles Barnes scored in the first half and the Dynamo won their second straight match, defeating the San Jose Earthquakes 2-0 Saturday night.
With the win, Houston tied the record for the MLS home unbeaten streak in all competitions of 34 set by Real Salt Lake from 2009-11. Houston is one game from tying the MLS regular-season record for longest home unbeaten streak of 29 set by Real Salt Lake during the same period. The Dynamo have not lost a home game in the MLS or international competition since dropping a 2-0 decision to Columbus on June 18, 2011.
Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear downplayed tying the all-competitions record.
''You don't get anything for it,'' he said. ''You get a lot of points and get asked a lot of questions and a lot of satisfaction on a week-to-week basis, but in the end it goes down in a statistical record book. You don't get a T-shirt or a hat or a ring for it. To be honest, I don't think I've mentioned it to the guys once.''
''Your focus is on 90 minutes,'' Kinnear added. ''You can't focus on the past 33 games at home. I'm happy for the guys, but we still have 30 games left in the season instead of concentrating on the streak. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful accomplishment and I'm glad I'm part of the group that's done it, but there is still a lot of stuff to be thought about as well.''
Houston (3-1-0) took a 1-0 lead on Bruin's goal in the 17th minute. Oscar Boniek Garcia fed Bruin from outside the right box into the middle box, and Bruin put it in the left net from 8 yards out. The goal was Houston's first score in the first half this season.
''I thought we started off really well,'' Barnes said. ''We work really hard for each other, so there is a great foundation. We knew as soon as we got the first goal we could carry on pressing. As we came on at halftime, we knew we just had to keep on pressing and we could keep them out.''
The Earthquakes (2-2-1), which saw their three-game unbeaten streak end, missed a chance to take a 1-0 lead right before Bruin's goal, with Ty Harden charging down the middle and bouncing a corner kick over the crossbar.
The Dynamo extended their lead to 2-0 in the 42nd minute on Barnes' header. Brad Davis sent a cross into the middle of the box from outside the upper right box, and Barnes put it inside the near post from 10 yards out.
Barnes gave credit to Davis on the play for setting him up with what Barnes called ''an incredible cross.''
San Jose had a chance to get on the board in second-half stoppage, but Chris Wondolowski's header from the left box hit off the left post.
Earthquakes head coach Frank Yallop gave credit to Houston for the win, but added that the slow start did not help his team.
''It's disappointing to lose the match,'' Yallop said. ''I think we didn't start well at all, conceded a very early goal which put us on our heels, and then if we don't concede the second one before half time, we still have a chance to get back in the match. I think the second half display was a lot better than first, but we had some good chances to score and we didn't.''
