Houston Dynamo clip Montreal Impact on Mauro Manotas' late tally

Mauro Manotas scored the go-ahead goal in the 86th minute to lift the Houston Dynamo to a 2-1 victory over the visiting Montreal Impact on Saturday.

Quiet most of the afternoon, Manotas drilled home a stellar cross from Romell Quioto to break a 1-1 tie and give the Dynamo their first victory of the MLS season. Manotas has scored six goals in his last five league games.

The defeat was a tough one for the Impact, who rallied to win their opener at San Jose last weekend but were outshot 6-1 in on-target chances Saturday. Playing its first six games on the road this season, Montreal remained winless at Houston since entering the league in 2012.

Houston was the aggressor from the start Saturday, after posting just one shot on goal in its season-opening draw versus Real Salt Lake and none during a defeat to Tigres UANL in CONCACAF Champions League action on Tuesday. Tomas Martinez registered the Dynamo's first shot on goal from just outside the box within the first three minutes.

However, it was Montreal that struck first. An open Saphir Taider side-foot volleyed a perfect cross from Michael Azira in the 34th minute to put the Impact ahead on one of their few early chances.

It didn't take long, though, for Houston to equalize. Off a simple pass from Martinez, Memo Rodriguez lasered one into the top right corner from 20 yards out in the 36th minute to deliver a massive response.

Martinez also provided a quality chance with a strike from just outside the box within the first 10 minutes of the second half. However, it proved to be an easy save for Montreal keeper Evan Bush.

The tempo of the match, though, seemed to shift in favor of the Impact. Mathieu Choiniere had an open chance in the 72nd minute, but blazed the ball high over the goal for a missed opportunity.

But it was the Dynamo who mustered enough of an attack in the final third to break the tie and pull out the win, thanks to Manotas and Quioto.