Prince Owusu’s first half brace Saturday night enabled visiting CF Montreal to win for just the second time in 18 matches this year with a 3-1 verdict over the Houston Dynamo.
Jalen Neal also scored for Montreal (2-11-5, 11 points), while Ondrej Lingr had the only tally for Houston (5-8-5, 20 points). The Dynamo owned a 21-8 advantage in shots but got just two of them on frame, as opposed to five for Montreal. They had nine shots blocked.
Owusu did his damage quickly, enabling his team to snap a five-match winless streak in which they were 0-3-2. He initiated scoring in the 30th minute when Caden Clark serviced him in the box. After dribbling to his left to create space, Owusu wired a shot past goalie Jonathan Bond inside the right post. Tom Pearce picked up a second assist on the tally.
Two minutes later, Owusu made it 2-0 as the result of a fine run down the middle of the pitch and a skillful cross from the right side by Aleksandr Guboglo. Owusu headed the ball inside the left post for his fourth goal of the year. Victor Loturi was also credited with an assist on Owusu’s sixth score of the season.
Neal made the advantage an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the 54th minute with his first goal in two seasons with Montreal. Pearce took a free kick from the right side and swung it near the left post, where Neal emerged unmarked to head it by Bond.
Houston got its only goal in the 64th minute on a scramble after a failed corner kick. Nicolas Lodeiro crossed from the left side into the box, where Lingr snapped an authoritative header past Jonathan Sirois for his third goal.
The Dynamo missed a good chance to draw within a goal in four minutes later when Franco Escobar beat Sirois but not the left post from point-blank range. The shot was estimated to have a 57 percent goal expectancy.
Houston’s last decent shot came in the 88th minute but Lingr’s header in the box drifted wide of the net. He squeezed off a match-high five shots.
