New York Red Bulls Vs. Houston Dynamo, 2012 MLS: Another Cleansheet for NYRB

The New York Red Bulls defense might be short on bodies and the players they consider their "best defense," but the scoreboard hasn't shown it.

Ever since injuries decimated their defense, New York has stopped giving up goals, and Wednesday night was no different as they pitched another clean sheet in their third consecutive 1-0 win. This one came against the Houston Dynamo, whose seven-match season-opening road trip ended with their fifth consecutive match without a win.

Kenny Cooper notched the only goal of the match with the help of Corey Ashe, whose lazy backpass gave him the opportunity. It left Tally Hall scrambling to come off his line and clear the ball, but instead it just deflected off of Cooper and in to give New York a lead in the seventh minute.

A one-goal lead with 83 minutes to play shouldn't have been secure for the Red Bulls. They were playing with the unbelievably young and inexperienced back line of Connor Lade, Markus Holgersson, Tyler Ruthven and Brandon Barklage, but they produced yet another clean sheet. Missing players or not, New York is getting wins and now they sit in third place in MLS and just two points out of second place with two matches in hand.