The Seattle Sounders hosted Houston Dynamo on Saturday night, renewing their rivalry after 4 years of being separated in different conferences.

A fierce and physical first half was exemplified by Raul Rodriguez’s injury on 23 minutes. He left on his own feet, but was bleeding profusely in the process.

Obafemi Martins opened the scoring on 39 minutes. He collected a pass from Dempsey as he angled into the area before spinning around Jermaine Taylor and finishing low to the far post.

At halftime, Seattle were relatively comfortable despite not seeing all that much of the ball. Houston lacked impetus in the attacking third, but will have been satisfied otherwise.

The match changed on 56 minutes, as Gonzalo Pineda led with his studs on an aerial challenge with Ricardo Clark. He caught the Dynamo midfielder in the chest, and was deservedly sent off.

Will Bruin and Zach Scott joined the action, altering the formations for both sides. Houston moved into a two striker set up in a 4-4-2 while Seattle employed the seldom-seen 5-3-1. Alonso left on 73 minutes to standing ovation in his first game back from injury.

An onslaught of pressure from the Dynamo followed the dismissal, mixed in with a few chances on the counter for Obafemi Martins. For the most part, it was all Houston with the Sounders hanging on.

Despite all the possession, the Dynamo struggled to fashion any good looks, and Seattle were safe enough in the end as they took the three points.

That leaves Seattle unbeaten in 6 home meetings against the Texans. Sounders next travel to play LA next weekend, while the Dynamo host Montreal.