Houston • Tomas Martinez scored in the 63rd minute and his free kick in the 77th led to an own goal, helping the Houston Dynamo beat Sporting Kansas City 2-1 on Wednesday night.
Houston (12-10-10) moved within one point of a third-place tie with Portland and Seattle. Second-place Sporting KC (12-8-12) needed at least a draw to secure a playoff spot.
Only Vancouver, three points ahead of Sporting KC, has secured a playoff spot in the Western Conference. With two games remaining for every team in the Western Conference, Real Salt Lake remains tied for seventh with San Jose, one point behind FC Dallas in sixth place. The top six will be in the MLS Cup playoffs.
Martinez tied it at 1 by volleying home a deflected cross and the Dynamo took the lead on Erik Palmer-Brown's own goal. Martinez's free kick was placed inside the 6-yard box and Palmer-Brown knocked it in with his right leg.
Jimmy Medranda scored for Sporting KC in the 33rd minute. Saad Abdul-Salaam dribbled along the right side of the 18-yard box and found Medranda trailing the play for a left-footed finish from distance.
Seth Sinovic had an open shot pushed away by Houston goalkeeper Tyler Deric in the third minute of second-half stoppage time.
The game was pushed back from Aug. 26 due to Hurricane Harvey. The teams will play again on Sunday.