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Holden leads balanced attack as Dynamo rout Fire

Jul 13, 2007 - 5:17 AM BRIDGEVIEW, Illinois (Ticker) -- The Houston Dynamo spoiled the debut of Chicago Fire coach Juan Carlos Osorio.

Stuart Holden scored the first of his team's four goals as the Dynamo extended their unbeaten streak to nine games with a commanding 4-0 triumph over the Fire on Thursday night.

The defending MLS champion Dynamo(10-5-2) have been dominant of late, holding their opponents scoreless since a 2-1 victory over Chivas USA on June 21- a span of 605 minutes. Houston is just 76 minutes shy of tying the league record set by the Kansas City Wizards from April 19-27, 2000.

Osorio signed a multi-year deal with Chicago (4-8-4) on Friday, replacing Dave Sarachan, who was fired on June 20. Osorio is no stranger to the league, spending two seasons as an assistant with the MetroStars from 2000-01.

"We didn't defend the goal very well. There's a lot of work to do," Osorio said. "I learned a lot from the game and, hopefully, we can start putting things in place."

The Dynamo wasted little time taking control as Wade Barrett sent a cross pass to Holden, who blasted a one-timer past Chicago goalkeeper Matt Pickens in the 31st minute. It was Holden's third tally this season.

"It was a good ball by Ricardo Clark. Wade cut the ball back to me and I got a left foot on it," Holden said. "It was a tough ball for Pickens to cover. It got us a 1-0 lead, and we came out flying in the second half."

In the 58th minute, Houston doubled its lead as Nate Jaqua collected a loose ball and fired it into the top right corner of the net.

"I saw the ball come across, just checked to the near post and didn't want to take another touch because I didn't know what was coming up behind me," Jaqua said. "I just hit it the first time and tried to curl it in the near post and was able to go high over Pickens."

Four minutes later, Joseph Ngwenya tallied his sixth goal of the season, faking out a defender and making an impressive kick from the right side of the net.

"Joe and Nate were excellent," Houston coach Dominic Kinnear said. "Holding the ball up and running into spaces. You're always happy when you win and your forwards play well and they score."

The 26-year-old Ngwenya has been stellar since coming over from Columbus, scoring all his goals with Houston in 12 contests, including two against the New York Red Bulls last week.

Houston netminder Pat Onstad was brilliant in net, picking up his sixth shutout by recording six saves.

"We're playing well and we're scoring goals at the right time," Onstad said. "I think the energy is there when we get the ball. We keep it and we don't give it away in bad areas, and the guys have been fantastic."