By JUSTIN FERGUSON
With seven goals in eight career meetings, Will Bruin returned to RFK Stadium with a reputation as being a constant thorn in D.C. United’s side.
The Houston forward continued his dominance over United on Wednesday evening with two more goals and two assists.
Bruin had a hand in each goal for the Dynamo, who thrashed United 4-0 on a rainy night at RFK Stadium. Houston started and finished strong against a struggling D.C. side which, despite dominating most of the second half action, failed to find the back of the net for the fourth time in their last five matches.
The Dynamo, winners of back-to-back road matches, attacked from the opening whistle. The forward pairing of Bruin and Giles Barnes came close to scoring in the first few minutes, but they were not able to break through until the 16th minute.
The wet field at RFK allowed Oscar Boniek Garcia to take advantage of some United slip-ups in the midfield. Garcia played an excellent through ball to Bruin, who beat Dejan Jakovic with his first touch and lofted a shot over a charging Bill Hamid for the goal.
Houston pounced on another bad moment for the home side 12 minutes later. Jakovic played a last-gasp backpass to Hamid, whose hurried clearance found Bruin inside the box. Bruin laid the ball off to Barnes, and the English forward beat Hamid with a well-placed shot.
After their disappointing first half performance, United came out on the attack in the second half. Chris Korb, Marcos Sanchez and Rafael all put long-distance efforts inches from Tally Hall’s goal right out of the break.
United’s best chance of the match came off of one of their 15 corner kicks. In the 63rd minute, the ball fell to Dwayne De Rosario just behind the line. De Rosario blasted two shots on Houston’s goal, but Kofi Sarkodie blocked both of his efforts right off the line on a great hustle play.
D.C.’s run of control in the second half came to a screeching halt in the 78th minute when Bruin grabbed his second goal of the night. Brad Davis’s free kick found the head of Brian Ching, who replaced an injured Barnes late in the first half. The veteran forward nodded the ball to a wide open Bruin for Houston’s third goal.
Bruin capped off his night with a second assist 10 minutes later. Although he had a chance to grab the hat trick, Bruin laid the ball back to a wide open Andrew Driver for Houston’s fourth and final goal of the night. The forward came off seconds later for Jason Johnson, who was making his professional debut.
Houston (6-2-2) will look to continue the best start in franchise history with a home match against Sporting Kansas City on Sunday. Last-place D.C. United (1-7-1) travels to Western Conference leaders FC Dallas on Saturday night.