Ezequiel Ponce, Jonathan Bond lead Dynamo past St. Louis City 1-0

HOUSTON (AP) — Ezequiel Ponce scored in the second half and Jonathan Bond made it stand up as the Houston Dynamo snapped a three-match skid with a 1-0 victory over St. Louis City on Saturday night.

Ponce ended a scoreless match when used assists from defenders Felipe Andrade and Franco Escobar to score his fifth goal this season and 10th in his two seasons in the league. Andrade’s assist was his first in the rookie’s ninth career appearance and Escobar’s was his third this season.

Bond needed just one save to post his sixth clean sheet of the season for the Dynamo (6-9-5), who beat St. Louis City (3-11-6) for the first time in five regular-season matchups. The two clubs played to a scoreless draw in Houston last season and tied 1-1 there in 2023 — when St. Louis City won the Western Conference regular-season title as an expansion team.(backslash)

Roman Bürki finished with five saves for St. Louis City, which falls to 1-7-2 on the road.

Houston played without defender Griffin Dorsey, who was suspended for the match for an accumulation of yellow cards.

The Dynamo travel to play San Diego FC on Saturday. St. Louis City plays at Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer