Dynamo crushes Real Salt Lake 5-1, leads Western Conference
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HOUSTON (AP) -
Erick Torres scored his 10th goal of the season and the Houston Dynamo beat Real Salt Lake 5-1 on Wednesday night to move into first place in the Western Conference.
Houston (7-5-2) has won seven of its last eight home games, scoring 24 goals. Real Salt Lake (4-9-2) ended a three-game scoreless run on the road with Joao Plata's free-kick goal in the 63rd minute.
Houston took the lead on an own goal by Justin Schmidt in the third minute. Mauro Manotas was left alone on the left side of the box and his cross in front of goal was knocked in by a sliding Schmidt.
Alex scored his first goal of the season in the 15th minute for a 2-0 lead. A short corner kick was sent back to Alex and he dribbled to the penalty spot for a shot through traffic. Manotas closed the first half with a goal in the 45th off Torres' back-heal pass.
Torres scored on an easy tap-in early in the second half for his eighth goal in seven home matches. Leonardo capped the scoring with a powerful header in the 68th.