WASHINGTON – Christian Gomez scored one goal and assisted on another as D.C. United beat the Houston Dynamo 2-1 on Saturday night for its third straight win.

Gomez gave United (3-3-1) a 1-0 lead in the 4th minute when he curled a free kick over four Houston defenders and into the top left of the net to beat goalie Pat Onstad. It was the third goal of the season for Gomez, who tied Jaime Moreno for the team lead.

United made it 2-0 in the 27th minute as Gomez passed to a cutting Ben Olsen, who beat Onstad with a shot to the left of the Houston keeper for his first goal of the season.

Toronto FC 2, Crew 2

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Jim Brennan scored in the 49th minute to lift Toronto FC to a 2-2 tie with the Columbus Crew on Saturday night.

Andy Herron scored twice for Columbus (1-2-5) before leaving with strained quadriceps after scoring his second goal in the 36th minute.

Herron opened the scoring in the 2nd minute, taking a perfectly timed pass from forward Alejandro Moreno inside the penalty area and sending a left-footed strike that caromed off the outstretched arm of diving Toronto goalkeeper Greg Sutton and into the back of the net.

Danny Dichio tied the score for Toronto (2-5-1), taking a pass from teammate Jeff Cunningham and rolling an 18-yard shot just inside the right goalpost in the 27th minute.

Herron struck again 9 minutes later, pouncing on a loose rebound left when Sutton stopped Ned Grabavoy’s shot from 12 yards, but deflected the ball back into play. However, Herron injured his left quadriceps while scoring and was forced to leave the game in favor of substitute Ricardo Virtuoso.

Brennan then tied it in the second half with a line drive shot from 32 yards on a free-kick set play that flew untouched into the upper-right corner of the net.

Herron received a yellow card for what referee Ricardo Salazar deemed to be an excessive celebration following his first goal. He had a chance for another score in the 24th minute but his shot slid just right of the goal.

AP-ES-05-26-07 2145EDT