Giles Barnes delivers Owen Coyle first MLS win in Houston; Jozy Altidore double leads Toronto

The former Derby County and West Brom man Giles Barnes led the Houston Dynamo to a 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew in their MLS season opener on Saturday.

Associated Press

Former Derby County and West Bromwich Albion man Giles Barnes scored in the 66th minute, Tyler Deric made five saves and the Houston Dynamo beat the Columbus Crew 1-0 on Saturday night in the MLS regular-season opener for both teams.

It’s the first MLS win for Dynamo coach Owen Coyle.

Kofi Sarkodie took a long forward pass from Raul Rodriguez and made a run on the right. He froze Waylon Francis with a stop move, and then fed Barnes at the penalty spot. Barnes’s shot settled past the outstretched hand of Steve Clark and just under the crossbar.

Columbus’s Federico Higuain hit the crossbar in an effort to draw even five minutes later.

Deric made several saves late to preserve the shutout. In the 53rd minute he made a diving stop of Kei Kamara’s header in the upper right corner. He robbed Kristinn Steindorsson in the 65th minute and Kamara again in the 87th.

Kamara had one more chance in the 89th minute, but his header went wide.

Jozy Altidore, meanwhile, scored twice in his Toronto FC debut in a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Fellow Toronto newcomer Robbie Findley also scored. Octavio Rivero scored for Vancouver.

Altidore drew Toronto level in the 32nd minute after some great work by Sebastian Gionvinco. The Italian slid a pass through to Altidore and the US international beat David Ousted from a tight angle.

Findley made it 2-1 in the 59th minute, scoring off a cross.

Altidore completed his double on a late penalty after being dragged down by Pa-Modou Kah.

Elsewhere, Jairo Arrieta scored in the 58th minute and DC United beat Montreal for the Washington club’s first season-opening victory since 2011.

After Bill Hamid’s save, DC United pushed the ball up field and Arrieta slid the ball under Evan Bush, who had come out to the corner of the 18-yard box to attempt to intercept Chris Rolfe’s lofted pass. Three minutes later, United’s Chris Pontius hit the crossbar from just outside the 6-yard box.

United were without their two leading goal scorers from last season. Luis Silva has a hamstring injury and Fabian Espindola is on suspension.

Colorado held off Philadelphia’s second-half charge as the 10-manned Rapids played to a scoreless draw with the Union.

The Rapids had three 0-0 games last season and the Union played in two.

Colorado’s Bobby Burling received his second yellow card in the 68th minute after a takedown of Sebastien Le Toux near midfield.

Blas Perez scored on a header in the 92nd minute to lead FC Dallas over the San Jose Earthquakes.

Perez was 6 yards out when he redirected a blast that Moises Hernandez sent wide. It was Perez’s 32nd career MLS goal.

The loss extended the Quakes’s franchise-record winless streak to 16 games in coach Dominic Kinnear’s return to the club after a 10-year absence.

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