Houston, TX – Houston, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Toronto FC and the Houston Dynamo shared the spoils at BBVA Compass Stadium on Saturday as the two sides combined for four first-half goals in a 2-2 draw.
Will Bruin took advantage of a mistake by the Toronto defense to open the scoring for Houston in the 11th minute, but Gilberto equalized seven minutes later for the visitors.
Giles Barnes restored the lead in the 26th, but Dominic Oduro scored on the stroke of halftime to hand TFC a second successive draw, while Houston has now gone winless in its last eight games.
TFC handed Houston the lead early in the game when Michael Bradley headed a ball back toward his own goal that defender Bradley Orr allowed to roll past him, which let Bruin swoop in and tap the ball into the empty net.
The visitors answered seven minutes later through Gilberto as he took a pass inside the penalty area from Justin Morrow and fired a shot between two defenders that found the bottom corner of the net.
The scoring binge continued in the 26th with a nice piece of skill from Barnes, who took possession of the ball 40 yards from goal and dribbled toward the net before driving a low shot inside the left post from outside the area.
Corey Ashe handed Toronto a chance to level the contest once more just two minutes later when he brought down TFC's Luke Moore inside the box. Bradley stepped to the spot and fired his spot off the post, leaving his side down 2-1.
Moore helped the visitors equalize before the break when he got to the end line and drove the ball toward the front of the net, where it deflected off of Oduro and found its way past goalkeeper Tally Hall.
The match came off the boil a bit following halftime, however, and the best chance for either side came in the 75th minute when Bruin shook free from a defender and hammered a shot on goal that netminder Joe Bendik saved at his near post.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.