Winless string comes to end
Barnes, Wenger chip in goals as gears shift toward positive
The Dynamo finally put an end to the misery.
Throughout a six-game winless streak that included five losses, the Dynamo often talked about how they were close to breaking through with a positive result. They finally walked the walk Saturday night.
Forward Giles Barnes and midfielder Andrew Wenger scored first-half goals to give the Dynamo a 2-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City at BBVA Compass Stadium. Their only other win came March 12.
“The most important thing tonight — and it’s not something I’ll always say because I like for my team to perform well — was that we got the points in the bag,” coach Owen Coyle said.
The Dynamo (2-5-2) remain in last place in the Western Conference but will not have to answer questions about their poor results for at least a few days. They travel to California to face San Jose and former coach Dominic Kinnear on Wednesday night.
Once on top of the West, Sporting Kansas City (45-2) extended its winless streak to six but remains in a playoff position.
The visitors were dominant for the first 30 minutes Saturday. They had several great opportunities but never converted. The Dynamo eventually caught up to the run of play and made them pay for their misses.
The first goal came on a brilliant strike by Barnes in the 30th minute.
With a headed ball bouncing to him, Cubo Torres shielded a defender and bravely stuck out his foot to flick the ball ahead to Barnes. Barnes ran past his defender and onto the ball at the edge of the box.
He ripped a dipping, left-footed shot on his first touch that bounced in front of goalkeeper Tim Melia and under his outstretched arm.
Sporting Kansas City coach Peter Vermes said that is when the game turned.
“We had them broken, and then they got confidence,” Vermes said. “They scored a second one right before half. Chasing two goals at anybody’s place is never an easy obstacle to overcome.”
Wenger added to the lead in stoppage time.
After some nifty footwork to nutmeg a defender near the touch line, Barnes passed to Cristian Maid- ana outside the top of the box. Maidana played a diagonal pass to Wenger toward the edge of the box.
Wenger ran toward the pass and touched it around a defender to create space. From there he hit a blistering shot into the roof of the net just inside the near post.
Sporting Kansas City pushed forward much of the final 30 minutes but never beat Dynamo goalkeeper Tyler Deric. That was significant because they never were in a position to lose points.
Before Saturday’s game, the Dynamo had dropped 13 points from winning positions, most in MLS.
“The second half was more of a mental test, given that we had given up some leads,” Coyle said. “We stood up. We were resolute. I can’t really recall any outstanding goal chances they had in the second half.”