Shea Salinas scored in the 86th minute to give the Vancouver Whitecaps a 1-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo on Saturday night.
Salinas took a short pass from midfielder Long Tan, then raced toward the Houston net and beat Tally Hall with a low, hard shot.
The Whitecaps players mobbed Salinas, who earlier had missed on a good scoring chance.
The win was just the fourth of the season for the Whitecaps, who are playing in their first MLS campaign. All Vancouver's victories have come at home.
Houston had a five-game unbeaten string snapped. The Dynamo haven't won a road game all season.
Vancouver goalkeeper Joe Cannon made a crucial save in the 73rd minute, leaping high in the air to get his hand on a header from Houston's Brian Ching and deflecting the ball over the net.
The Whitecaps improved to 4-13-9 but remained last in the Western Conference. Houston is 8-8-11 overall and 0-5-8 on the road.
The match got off to a rocky start when the recording of the U.S. national anthem stopped about midway through. The players and crowd shuffled nervously for several seconds of silence before the Canadian anthem suddenly began.
The Whitecaps quickly issued an apology on Twitter, blaming technical difficulties.
Vancouver will play its next two games on the road, Sept. 10 in New York and Sept. 17 at Los Angeles.
