St. Louis City SC won their third match in a row with an emphatic 3-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo at CITYPARK.
The expansion side were awarded a penalty as Chase Gasper took down Indiana Vassilev and Eduard Lowen beat Steve Clark into the top right corner.
It was 2-0 when Lowen found Tim Parker at the far post and headed for an oncoming Tomas Ostrak, whose strike from the six-yard box found the bottom right corner.
St. Louis were given a second penalty on 81 minutes as Dynamo defender Daniel Steres brought down Aziel Jackson and Nicolas Gioacchini converted from the spot.
Victory vaults Bradley Carnell's men to the top of the Western Conference table and improve to 8-2-0 at home.
Story of the match
Just seven minutes into the contest, St. Louis was awarded a penalty when Gasper bundled over Vassilev and Löwen sent his spot kick into the top left corner despite Clark diving the correct way.
Coco Carrasquilla then created Houston's first chance, finding Corey Baird at the far post, his attempt bouncing in front of goalkeeper Roman Burki, who easily collected.
Later on, Steres made some key defensive plays, first pressuring Ostrák but the ball fell to Gioacchini close to the six-yard box, the Dynamo defender blocking the shot.
On 28 minutes, Baird's back heel to Aliyu Ibrahim saw the 22-year-old in the heart of the area, but pressure from the St. Louis defense meant the opportunity amounted to nothing.
Seven minutes from halftime, Carrasquilla went on a surging run, playing the ball to Ibrahim, who lost possession before he could attempt a shot.
Clark was then on hand to deny a free-kick by Löwen at the near post in the closing moments of the first half and moments later, the visitors were nearly down to ten men following an altercation near their bench.
Three minutes into the second half, Houston won the ball back and Carrasquilla found Ivan Franco in space outside of the box and he played the ball to the Brazilian, whose shot was blocked.
Soon after, St. Louis doubled their advantage. A beautiful passage of play ended when Ostrák met Parker's headed pass and found the back of the net.
On 63 minutes, the visitors had their most dangerous chance of the half, Franco playing the ball back to the dangerous Carrasquilla and although he poked on goal, Bürki blocked the attempt with relative ease.
In the 81st minute, Steres was judged to have tackled Jackson in the right corner of the penalty box. Gioacchini calmly finished to put the match out of reach.
The Dynamo nearly picked up a consolation goal four minutes from time as Thorleifur Ulfarsson sent a ball in that glanced off of Franco and fell to Franco Escobar, who forced a save out of Bürki and a clearance off the line by Parker.
Man of the match: Eduard Lowen
The German continues to show his versatility and why he is the heart of the midfield and team in the absence of striker Joao Klauss. He showed his technical ability on converting from the penalty spot and passing ability in being involved on several chances throughout the evening.