Di Vaio, Felipe score as Impact stay unbeaten at home with 2-0 win over Dynamo

MONTREAL – Felipe Martins and Marco Di Vaio scored in the first half Wednesday as the Montreal Impact remained undefeated at home with a 2-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo.

The Eastern Conference-leading Impact (9-3-2) improved to 6-0-1 at Saputo Stadium and won a fourth in a row at home in Major League Soccer play.

Houston (6-5-4) are winless in their last five (0-3-2).

The crowd of 17,694 saw the Impact in full attack mode as they created chance after chance against a Houston side missing some key players before switching to a more defensive game in the second half.

Daniele Paponi missed two good chances in the first eight minutes and had another called offside.

Only 13 minutes in, Patrice Bernier sent a clever sidefoot pass over the defence and Felipe chested it down and scored his third of the season.

The Dynamo wasted a glorious chance to tie it in the 20th minute when Matteo Ferrari was called for a late tackle in the area on Will Bruin. But Englishman Giles Barnes’ hooked the ball from the penalty spot well over the net.

Then it was Corey Ashe’s turn to misfire as he shanked an attempt to play the ball back to Houston goalie Tally Hall in the 32nd. Di Vaio ran it down, went in alone and calmly chipped in his 10th of the campaign. Nine of the former Bolgna star’s 10 goals have come at home.

Houston had a good chance after a free kick in the 58th, but Warren Creavalle’s left footed shot went just over the bar.

Di Vaio had the crowd on its feet in the 62nd as he headed Nyassi’s pass off the bar, then recovered the ball but shot just wide.

The crowd booed when Brian Ching subbed in for Barnes in the 78th. Ching was claimed by Montreal in the 2012 expansion draft but asked to be dealt back to Houston.

Notes: Houston was missing two players to international duty, Honduran Boniek Garcia and American Brad Davis. … Montreal made four changes after their loss in Columbus over the weekend. Paponi and Andrea Pisanu started, while Sanna Nyassi was back from playing for Gambia. Alessandro Nesta returned from a one-game suspension. Justin Mapp sat out with a thigh injury.