By JOE TANSEY

CHESTER, PA—A week after being thoroughly outplayed on their home field, the Philadelphia Union bounced back in strong fashion with a 2-0 win over the Houston Dynamo at PPL Park on Sunday.

Tranquillo Barnetta scored a goal and delivered an assist to help the Union keep their faint playoff hopes alive, as Sunday night’s victory kept them three points behind the Montreal Impact for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The loss was another major blow to Houston’s dwindling playoff hopes as the Dynamo sit six points out of sixth place in the West with five games to go.

Fresh off a rough loss at home to Columbus a week earlier, the Union had the majority of the chances in the first half on Sunday night. But they had to wait until the 64th minute to finish off the visitors in a battle of ninth-place teams in MLS.

The Union struck for the first goal of the match in the third minute as Sebastien Le Toux fed Barnetta with a pass from the right wing. The Switzerland international used a quick move to fake out a defender before coolly slotting the ball into the bottom right part of the net.

Le Toux’s assist moved him into MLS’ 50-50 club. Le Toux has 52 goals and 50 assists in seven seasons for Philadelphia, Vancouver, Seattle and the New York Red Bulls.

Philadelphia pushed for a second for most of the first stanza, but they were unable to get another shot past Tyler Deric.

Deric made five saves in the first half, including a few key ones on Cristian Maidana in the 22nd and 45th minutes. The latter opportunity forced the Houston goalkeeper to keep Maidana’s attempt out with his left arm.

Union goalkeeper John McCarthy sprung into action in the 36th minute as he used quick reflexes to recover from his flat-footed position. David Horst nodded a shot off the left post and before it bounced over the line, McCarthy stuck his right hand out to preserve the Philadelphia lead.

Houston attempted to remedy its defensive deficiencies from the first half with a halftime substitution that saw Luis Garrido replace Kofi Sarkodie. The move shifted Oscar Boniek Garcia back to right back, while Garrido set up shop in the center of midfield. The switch seemed to have a positive effect on the team at the start of the second half. 

Giles Barnes created an early second-half chance for the visiting Dynamo in the 48th minute, but his effort from the middle of the box found the body of McCarthy.

In the 50th minute, Will Bruin set up Luis Miranda on the right side of the area, but the shot from the midfielder clipped the side netting on its way into the River End.

Bruin had a go at goal himself two minutes later, but McCarthy was able to leap and bat the ball over the net with his gloves. Bruin once again sprung forward in the 55th minute during a three-on-two break, but his selfishness led to a nice tackle by Vincent Nogueira.

The biggest flash point of the match came in the 60th minute, when Miranda clipped Nogueira from behind. The tackle drew a quick, passionate reaction from Barnetta, but to his dismay, Miranda only received a yellow card from referee Juan Guzman.

The Union finally capitalized on their chances for the second time in the 64th minute on a lovely play built through the left wing.

Barnetta played a short pass over to the feet of Fabinho, who played a nice ball in the direction of a sliding C.J. Sapong, who beat Deric for his ninth goal of the season.

The rest of the second half witnessed a strong defensive display from the Union, who earned their ninth clean sheet of the year.