(Photo credit: Abe Arredondo-Imagn Images)

The Houston Dynamo fell into an early hole when they went winless in their first six matches and won once in the first nine.

The results have been improved of late, with the Dynamo trying to win three straight matches for the first time in nearly 16 months when they visit Real Salt Lake on Saturday night in Sandy, Utah.

Houston (7-9-5, 26 points) started this season by scoring four times in six matches and going 0-4-2. The club also scored eight goals in going 1-4-4 over its first nine. Since then, the Dynamo are 6-5-1 in their past 12 contests.

Houston followed its 1-0 home win over St. Louis City on June 28 with a 4-3 road win at San Diego FC last Saturday, putting it in position to win three straight for the first time since March 16-30, 2024.

Houston scored four goals in a game for the first time since its 4-1 home win over Real Salt Lake last season on Sept. 14. Ezequiel Ponce scored twice against San Diego, including the go-ahead goal in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time.

'It was our best performance to date,' Houston coach Ben Olsen said. 'We brought the level of intensity to the heart and we also brought the quality, and we put those two together probably for the first time over the course of 100-something minutes.'

Real Salt Lake (6-10-4, 22 points) are on a season-best three-game unbeaten streak. After going 0-4-3 in their previous seven contests, RSL have scored six goals in their first three-game unbeaten streak since ending the 2024 regular season with 3-0-3 run.

Real Salt Lake scored three goals for the second time this season when they earned a 3-2 home win over St. Louis City last Saturday. Noel Caliskan and Diogo Goncalves scored in the first half before Real Salt Lake capitalized on a defensive miscue for an own goal in the 64th minute.

'I'm super proud of the way the guys approached this game,' Real Salt Lake coach Pablo Mastroeni said. 'We still got things to work on, but I think this puts us in the right frame of mind.'

Real Salt Lake earned the win while playing without Diego Luna, who is returning from a stint with the U.S. men's national team in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

--Field Level Media