HOUSTON—Substitute Stuart Holden scored on a 25-yard shot just moments after entering the game, lifting the Houston Dynamo to a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids on Thursday night.
Holden, who substituted a minute earlier for forward Chris Wondolowski, took a pass from Kelly Gray in the 64th minute and banged a hard shot from the right side for his first goal of the season.
The Dynamo (4-5-1) played without four of their top players, all called away for national team duty in the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Brian Ching and Ricardo Clark are playing for the United States, while Pat Onstad and Dwayne De Rosario are representing Canada. De Rosario, Ching and Clark are Houston’s top three scorers, respectively, while Onstad starts in goal.
Colorado (4-4-3) played without Roberto Brown, the Rapids No. 2 scorer, who is with the Panamanian team in the Gold Cup.
Houston opened the scoring in the third minute when Joseph Ngwenya broke free up the middle on passes from Brian Mullins and Wondolowski. Ngwenya took the ball straight at Rapids goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul, slipping it past him from 8 yards.
Colorado drew even in the 12th minute when Jose Cancela converted a penalty kick. Cancela had been knocked down near the goal moments earlier by Dynamo defenseman Eddie Robinson.
In a rematch of last year’s Western Conference finals, the defending MLS champion Dynamo won their second straight game and improved their all-time record against Colorado to 4-1-1.
The Rapids remained in second place in the West.
