Mexico star Alan Pulido leads Sporting KC past Houston

Alan Pulido's brace gave Sporting Kansas City a 2-1 road victory over the Houston Dynamo on Saturday night at BBVA Stadium. Gianluca Busio assisted on both goals.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for SKC in the first of nine matches in a 30-day period.

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The Sporting win was manager Peter Vermes' 150th regular-season win. He's 150-120-92 in his career with the club.

It was the fourth match this season between the two clubs, the first time that's happened since 2006, when every MLS team played the other clubs in their conference four times each. The two sides split the four matches.

Sporting KC (7-5-2, 23 points) had a chance to put the game on ice with three strong scoring chances in the 66th minute, but Houston keeper Marko Maric kept rising to the occasion. But in the 73rd minute, Roger Espinoza picked up a ball at midfield. He fed Busio who was streaking up the left side. Busio gathered the ball and fed Pulido in the wide side of the box, and Pulido guided it past an off-balance Maric for a 2-0 lead.

Houston finally drew within a goal in the 84th minute on a header from close range by Sam Junqua, but the Dynamo couldn't draw even. Houston (3-5-7, 16 points) is now winless (0-3-3) in its last six matches.

The first half saw Houston control the possession with most of the scoring opportunities. At the 30-minute mark, Houston owned a 56-44 percent advantage in possession. The Dynamo also had a 5-2 advantage in shots, including 2-0 in shots on goal. But they couldn't find the back of the SKC net.

Then in the 34th minute, Sporting took the lead. Busio fed Pulido with a beautiful pass from beyond midfield. Pulido split two defenders -- twice -- before sliding one past Maric for a 1-0 lead.

The Dynamo took a 7-3 edge in shots and a 59-41 advantage in possession to the locker room. But SKC had the edge in the one stat that mattered.