HOUSTON (AP) — Amine Bassi and Corey Baird scored two minutes apart in the first five minutes of the match, Thorleifur Úlfarsson scored twice off the bench in the second half after a lengthy weather delay and the Houston Dynamo cruised to a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday night.
Bassi notched his eighth goal of the season when he scored unassisted in the third minute to give the Dynamo (8-7-3) the lead. Bassi and Nelson Quiñónes picked up assists when Baird scored his third of the season for a 2-0 lead.
The Earthquakes (7-6-6) cut the lead in half by intermission when defender Carlos Akapo took a pass from Cristian Espinoza in the 41st minute and scored for a second time this season.
Houston put the match out of reach after thunderstorms halted play in the 62nd minute on goals by Úlfarsson in 77th and 89th minutes. Héctor Herrera and Bassi had assists on Úlfarsson's second goal this season and Herrera and Franco Escobar assisted on his third.
Steve Clark did not have to make a save in his seventh clean sheet of the season for Houston. Daniel de Sousa Brito had one save for San Jose.
Houston matched a club record with its seventh straight home victory over San Jose, something the Dynamo accomplished from 2009-14 against D.C. United. The Dynamo, who were coming off back-to-back shutout wins over defending champion Los Angeles FC, have won three straight for the first time since 2020. The club fell short of posting three straight shutouts for the first time since 2012.
The Earthquakes entered play with a 2-0-3 record in their last five matches, allowing just two goals.
San Jose returns home to host St. Louis City on Saturday. Houston travels to play Austin FC on Saturday.
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