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Dynamo edge Fire 3-2

Aug 10, 2009 - 4:22 AM By JEREMY RAKES STATS MLS Correspondent

HOUSTON (STATS) - Houston's Stuart Holden converted a penalty kick in the 83rd minute, and the Houston Dynamo held off Chicago 3-2 on Sunday night to end the Fire's five-match unbeaten streak.

Houston (11-6-5, 38 points) extended its lead in the Western Conference to seven points over Los Angeles, which has two games in hand, and jumped back into the top spot in the MLS with a two-point lead over Columbus. Chicago (8-4-8, 32 points) missed a chance to draw within three points of Columbus in the East.

"A win is a win. Any time you can win, you're happy with that," said Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear. "We jump back into first overall, so we're pretty pleased with that. It was mission accomplished there, but obviously some things we need to look at and work out for the next game.

"It's a huge win. We've been up by ourselves for a while, and then Columbus jumped over us last night with a good win and LA is on a bit of a roll. For us to come out with a win is huge because it pushes us a little farther away. It's a huge win for us."

The Fire trailed 2-0 at halftime, but cut the lead in the 46th minute on a goal by Chris Rolfe. Rolfe took a pass from Patrick Nyarko and cut to the left, then right and fired from 30 yards into the right side of the net.

Two minutes later, Peter Lowry scored his first career MLS goal off a cross from Cuauhtemoc Blanco. Lowry side-volleyed his shot with his right foot from just outside the 6-yard box before Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad could get in position.

After Corey Ashe was tackled from behind by Chicago's Brandon Prideaux, however, Holden scored his MLS career-high sixth goal, hitting the penalty kick to his left for the go-ahead goal.

"We talked at halftime and made some changes and came out and made a real good push and got two real good goals to get back in the game," said Chicago coach Denis Hamlett. "To lose the game on a PK call that could have been questioned, is disappointing because there were some really hard fouls tonight from the get go. I lost two guys tonight because of bad tackles. One the referee didn't card and the next one he carded. It is disappointing."

Houston jumped out to a 2-0 lead on first-half goals by Kei Kamara and Ricardo Clark.

"Kei's goal was just a great hit," Kinnear said. "He caught it solid after he caught them napping on a throw-in. Then (Ricardo Clark) just makes a great run, and Brian (Ching) with a nice pass, and Rico got there before (Chicago's) Jon Busch did. Two great finishes. Kei's was a little bit more of an electric finish, because he just smashes it, but I think Rico's run and his willingness in the last five yards to get onto the ball was excellent."

After Holden restored Houston's lead, Blanco had a shot that went off the post and a Onstad batted a shot by Lowry over the crossbar.

"We started to play a lot sharper. We were on our game," Dynamo defender Julius James said. "We closed them down really quickly. We're at home, so we wanted to win very much. All we had to do was stop them from scoring, and we had the confidence our offense would score a goal."

Lowry said Chicago was frustrated after not getting a point, and that sentiment was seconded by his teammates.

"It's tough. The conditions were rough, and we put a lot into it," Rolfe said. "To not get a point, especially at this point in the season, is very difficult for us."