Houston Dynamo kicked off their 2013 Major League Soccer campaign with a 2-0 win over DC United, thanks to an own goal from James Riley and a Ricardo Clark strike.
The home side started the game strongly when Brad Davis coasted into the box but saw his left-footed shot saved by Bill Hamid.
Houston missed a great chance to take the lead before the break but Davis saw his penalty saved by Hamid after Clark was felled in the area by Chris Korb.
Minutes later, Houston nearly paid for this miss as DC went close when Chris Pontius saw his effort smack off the bar and bounce clear.
United came out strongly after the break and went close through Lionard Pajoy but his effort was well blocked by the Dynamo defence before it could threaten the goal of Tally Hall.
Will Bruin and Davis combined to almost give Houston the lead but the former's header went just wide of the post.
Dynamo were upping the ante and they finally got their goal when Riley put the ball into his own net from a Houston corner.
Clark made sure of the three points in the 89th minute when he slid the ball home from a tight angle after latching onto Warren Creavalle through-ball.
Simon Sinclair
