Houston Dynamo vs Sporting Kansas City: Collin's header gives SKC win and stops Houston's home unbeaten streak

All good things must come to an end. Last night, Sporting Kansas City did what no one has been able to accomplish since June 2011 - beat the Dynamo in Houston. Behind a goal from defender Aurelien Collin, SKC halted Houston's home unbeaten streak at 36 games (an MLS record).

Immediately, you could tell this was a match being played by two teams who've had a busy week. Both teams played their third match in the last eight days, but Houston added a cross country flight between LA and DC before returning home.

The first half was a stalemate, with little action and more of a battle of possession between two clubs who are all too familiar with each other. Sporting had a few more shots, but neither team had any accuracy with their shooting as they were locked in a scoreless draw at the half.

The scoreline would stay blank until the 73rd minute when Seth Sinovic sent a long throw in to the box. Collin, surrounded by two defenders, but was able to flick the ball past Tally Hall and Corey Ashe to put the visitors up by a goal. Moments later, SKC nearly added a second when striker Claudio Beiler's shot was just wide of the net.

The final moments of the game were fun to watch, with Houston pushing everything forward looking to maintain the streak. Dominic Kinnear took out Adam Moffat and Kofi Sarkodie, and replaced them with the only two attackers he had available on the bench - Brian Ching and rookie Jason Johnson.

Johnson made an immediate impact and nearly had the tying goal, but Paulo Nagamura cleared his header off the line in a close call. The Dynamo had a few other chances to even the score, but ultimately fell short.

It was an odd feeling to walk out of BBVA Compass Stadium knowing the Dynamo had lost. Even though we all know the last time it happened, I truly cannot remember it. Either way, this day had to come... eventually.

But keep your head up Dynamo fans. Picking up six points from three games in a week is a big accomplishment. Doing it against the defending MLS Cup Champions and an Eastern Conference foe is even better. The fact that the orange came up short against SKC isn't fun, but it just makes this matchup more interesting.

While you don't get a trophy for defeating Houston at home, you couldn't tell by SKC's reaction after the match. The fact that Sporting celebrated last night's win like it had meaning just adds to the budding rivalry between the two clubs.

In the end, statistics showed the match pretty even. Attempts on goal, shots on target, and corner kicks were all similar. Houston got the edge (55%-45%) in possession, but just didn't have enough to pull out the result.

Houston will face off with SKC twice more in the regular season, including a road match on May 26. The last time Houston made their way to Sporting Park, they hoisted the 2012 Eastern Conference Champion trophy.

While it would be nice to walk out of there with a win to erase last night's memory, Houston (6-3-2, 20 points) will first turn their attention to their next home match against the New England Revolution (2-4-4, 10 points).

Even with the streak over, next Saturday a new streak can begin.