Luis Angel Landin And The Dynamo Show DC United Who's Boss

Photo courtesy Houston Dynamo

Dynamo are in second place, with two other teams

​It was a display of speed, and a little Luis Angel Landin on Saturday night, as the Houston Dynamo cruised to comfortable of 2-0 victory over DC United. The victory keeps the Dynamo in second place in the Western Conference, tied with the San Jose Earthquakes and Real Salt Lake.

As has been the case this year, the Dynamo jumped out on top with an early goal; this time from first-time starter Danny Cruz. The second-year midfielder found the back of the net in the 10th minute. Luis Angel Landin found the young Cruz making a late run from his right, and shot the ball to the opposite post to beat United keeper Troy Perkins.

The goal was not especially sweet for Cruz, who scored his first-ever MLS goal on his first MLS start. "It's great for me. I'm more happy for the team; we needed that win," he said. "It was real important to get three points and jump up the table depending on all the results, and now we have to look forward to Philadelphia next week."

Head coach Dominic Kinnear decided to start Cruz because of his performance last week against RSL, and his training from the past week. "I just felt he deserved a chance to start and play from the beginning. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't, and I think he took full opportunity and looked dangerous from the beginning."

Landin got into assist mode again in the 55th minute, this time feeding Dominic Oduro for the second goal. Landin made a run on the right side of the goal, when he cut the ball back to Dominic Oduro. The Ghanaian striker volleyed the ball on the first touch to score the team's second goal.

The Dynamo are still in the thick of things for positioning in the standings, sitting in second behind first-place LA Galaxy in the West. Kinnear was happy with the play of his young players, such as Cruz and goalkeeper Tally Hall -- regular Pat Onstad was away with the Canadian national team for a game against Argentina in Buenos Aires.

"Some teams jumped ahead of us in the standings, and this is the time to keep pace. The first 20 minutes we were excellent, good tempo, and the heat kind of grabbed both teams for a bit. Overall just happy with the way we played tonight."

The Dynamo next host the expansion Philadelphia Union on May 29 at Robertson Stadium.