Houston hopes to widen gap in West against Chivas

Soccer Betting Lines

08/19/2008 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two-time defending Major League Soccer champion Houston moved into first place in the Western Conference for the first time all season Saturday and coach Dominic Kinnear didn't care if it took an ugly win.

Allowing two goals in the opening 25 minutes of the first half at home? Kinnear can live with that. After all, Houston scored four goals before halftime and held on defeat Real Salt Lake, 4-3.

"We won, we are on top of the conference, and we are happy about that," Kinnear said.

"The results were the most important thing to come out of [the match]."

Houston, which has the fewest losses in MLS with four, will now try to open its lead when it hosts last year's conference champions Chivas USA on Wednesday at Robertson Stadium in the first of two matches for both clubs this week.

Houston leads Real Salt Lake by two points, but the entire conference is within eight points.

The Dynamo obviously weren't pleased with allowing three goals to RSL. Houston had allowed just one goal in its previous five MLS matches and has allowed just 22 goals all season - second in MLS to Chicago's 16.

But like Kinnear, Dynamo goalie Pat Onstad was just glad to escape with the win and first place.

"Give our guys credit. We were down one-nothing, we stuck to it, and we just started creating opportunities with the ball," Onstad said.

Houston, which has won its last three and is unbeaten in six straight, will try to extend its run without striker Brian Ching. He was called up to the United States national team for Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Guatemala.

Ching had a goal and an assist in last week's win over Real and leads the team with nine goals and is tied for the team lead with four assists.

Chivas also has to deal with a loss to the U.S. team. Midfielder Sacha Kljestan is also with the Americans for the match in Guatemala. Kljestan leads the team with five goals and is tied for the team lead with four assists.

With Jonathan Bornstein, Makel Galindo and Ante Razov among 11 players on the injured list for Chivas, it's a big blow to lose a healthy Kljestan.

Chivas is also still adjusting to new goalie Zach Thornton, who has allowed six goals in three games since replacing Brad Guzan earlier this month. Guzan moved to Aston Villa in the English Premier League.

Chivas is sixth in the West, but still just six points behind Houston. A couple of wins in the next few days could erase the team's recent frustrations.

Chivas hosts the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday and Houston visits Red Bull New York on Sunday.

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Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year

Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.

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