THE BASICS
Houston Dynamo at FC Dallas
Thursday, June 1, 2016, 8:00 p.m. CT
Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas
BROADCAST INFORMATION
ROOT SPORTS - 7:30 p.m. (CHANNEL LISTINGS)
650 AM / Radio.com app - 7:30 p.m.
Univision Radio 1010 AM - 7:30 p.m.
PREVIEW
The Texas Derby is renewed for a second time this season when FC Dallas take on the Houston Dynamo on Thursday evening at Toyota Stadium. The teams enter the match at opposite ends of the Western Conference table. FC Dallas return home after extending their undefeated streak to four games, coming away from the San Jose Earthquakes with a scoreless draw last weekend. The Dynamo remained winless on the road this season, starting their trip with a 1-1 draw at Vancouver Whitecaps FC. When the teams met in March, the Dynamo claimed an historic 5-0 win in Houston.
REFEREE: Kevin Stott. AR1 (bench): Ian Anderson; AR2 (opposite): Jeffrey Greeson; 4th: Fotis Bazakos
MLS Career: 282 games; FC/gm: 25.4; Y/gm: 3.2; R: 70; pens: 73
INJURY REPORT, PRESENTED BY HOUSTON METHODIST (as of May 26)
HOUSTON DYNAMO—PROBABLE: DaMarcus Beasley – left hamstring;
FC DALLAS—OUT: Christian Dean – left foot fracture; Masato Kudo – fractured jaw; QUESTIONABLE: Fraser Aird – right knee contusion;
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: DAL: Carlos Gruezo (Ecuador; Copa America); Tesho Akindele (Canada; vs. Azerbaijan 6/3); Atiba Harris (St. Kitts and Nevis; CFU Caribbean Cup) … HOU: Giles Barnes (Jamaica; Copa America)
HEAD-TO-HEAD
- ALL-TIME (25 meetings): FC Dallas 8 wins, 36 goals … Dynamo 10 wins, 38 goals … Ties 7
- AT DALLAS (12 meetings): FC Dallas 5 wins, 16 goals … Dynamo 3 wins, 14 goals … Ties 4
- FUTURE MATCH: 8/27: Houston Dynamo vs. FC Dallas, 8 p.m. CT
- The teams are meeting for the second time this season. Andrew Wenger scored one goal and set up two others as the Dynamo rolled to a 5-0 victory March 12 at BBVA Compass Stadium, the most goals scored by a team and the largest margin of victory in the Texas Derby.
- The first meeting victory snapped a five-game FC Dallas winning streak in the series, over the last three seasons. FCD had won the previous two meetings at BBVA Compass Stadium, just their second and third wins all-time in Houston in 14 meetings in all competitions, the first since 2010.
- FCD has won three games in a row in Frisco, the last Dynamo victory there coming in 2011.
- The clubs play for “El Capitán”, the 19th-century Mountain Howitzer cannon to be awarded to the winner of the season series by supporters groups for both clubs. Last year was the first season since 2011 the teams met more than once in the regular season, with both back in the Western Conference.
- Coaches record: Wade Barrett vs. DAL: first game … Oscar Pareja vs. HOU: P7 W5 L1 T1
LAST MEETING (MLS)
- 3/12: HOU 5, DAL 0 (Horst 6; own goal 13; Clark 23; Wenger 27; Bruin 85)
- The Dynamo were ahead after just the sixth minute when Andrew Wenger served in a cross that was headed home from close range by defender David Horst. It was 2-0 in the 13th minute when FCD defender Matt Hedges sent the ball into his own goal following a miscommunication with goalkeeper Jesse Gonzalez.
- Houston went up 3-0 in the 23rd minute as Ricardo Clark latched on to a feed from Wenger at the top of the box and smashed in a low, driven shot past Gonzalez. It was 4-0 just four minutes after a clearance attempt fell into the path of Wenger, who easily tapped home from close range.
- The rout was complete in the 85th minute as Will Bruin rounded Gonzalez and finished from a tight angle.
- HOUSTON DYNAMO (4-2-3-1): Joe Willis - Jalil Anibaba, David Horst, Raul Rodriguez, DaMarcus Beasley - Ricardo Clark (David Rocha 77), Alex - Andrew Wenger, Cristian Maidana (Leonel Miranda 44), Giles Barnes (Boniek Garcia 19) - Will Bruin
- FC DALLAS (4-2-3-1): Jesse Gonzalez - Atiba Harris (Ryan Hollingshead 46), Matt Hedges, Walker Zimmerman, Maynor Figueroa - Carlos Gruezo (Victor Ulloa 63), Kellyn Acosta - Michael Barrios, Mauro Diaz, Fabian Castillo (Tesho Akindele 59) - Maximiliano Urruti.
HOUSTON DYNAMO
The Houston Dynamo came away with a result for the first time on the road this season, reaching a 1-1 draw with Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Saturday afternoon at BC Place. The Dynamo are in 10th place in the Western Conference with 12 points from 13 games.
LAST GAME
- The Dynamo jumped ahead in the 20th minute. Alex threaded a perfect ball to DaMarcus Beasley, who cut back on a sliding Tim Parker in the penalty area before lifting the ball into the net from eight yards out.
- Both teams were reduced to 10 men when Alex and Pedro Morales were given straight red cards by referee Drew Fischer for an altercation three minutes from halftime.
- Whitecaps FC leveled in the 52nd minute. Cristian Techera’s corner was flicked on and Octavio Rivero latched onto the ball following a slight deflection, sending a half-volley inside the right post to tie the match.
- Dynamo assistant coach Wade Barrett made three changes to the team that fell 1-0 to the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park. Raul Rodriguez came into the back four for Agus, and Boniek Garcia and Collen Warner were given starts, in place of Cristian Maidana and Giles Barnes.
- HOUSTON DYNAMO (4-1-2-3): Tyler Deric - Sheanon Williams, David Horst, Raul Rodriguez, DaMarcus Beasley - Collen Warner - Ricardo Clark, Boniek Garcia (Leonel Miranda 73) - Andrew Wenger, Will Bruin (Mauro Manotas 61), Alex (ejected 42).
TEAM NEWS
- The game was the first in charge for Dynamo assistant coach Wade Barrett, after head coach Owen Coyle left the club to return home to England in the days leading up to the Whitecaps FC match.
- The draw was the first point on the road this season for the Dynamo following six away defeats, snapping a 10- game road losing streak dating back to last Aug. 26. The Dynamo still have a 15-game road winless streak alive, dating back to last July 18.
- “It's been an interesting week around our camp,” Barrett said. “We had a couple of days to prepare the team. We worked really, really hard over the last couple of days of having a specific plan. The game works out the way the game works out. I was proud of the way that the guys really stuck to the game plan. That was the one thing we asked from them. We asked discipline and organization. We stressed that and we stressed how we wanted to play and what we wanted to do.”
- Said goalkeeper Tyler Deric: “I think just keep putting in performances like this and keep digging out points and grinding out points. Nothing is going to be given to us, we have to work harder now for everything that we want, and if we want it bad enough we’ll get it.”
- DaMarcus Beasley scored his first goal of the season, his second goal in as many seasons, his first goals in his return to MLS following a 10-year absence. Beasley had 14 goals over 4-1/2 seasons from 2000-04 with the Chicago Fire in his first stint in the league.
- “We do have players that can play football, and that’s a good part to have for myself and our outside mids trying to get forward. We can keep the ball and handle the ball under pressure, and that’s what we did,” said Beasley. “[Boniek] played a perfect ball and it was up to me to try to make the keeper have to make a save. My job is not to score goals, but if it helps the team it helps the team.”
- Boniek Garcia made his first start since April 30, coming into a central midfield role and playing 73 minutes. Garcia recorded his third assist of the season – team-high for the Dynamo – his first since recording a pair of assists in the 4-3 loss to the New York Red Bulls on March 19.
- Collen Warner made his third start of the season, his first since April 30, coming into a deep-lying central midfield spot and playing the full 90 minutes.
- Raul Rodriguez made his return to the lineup after a four-match absence, coming into the center of defense and playing the full 90 minutes.
- “It was a very professional performance. Games like this, to give up a goal in the second half, kind of early, we usually just go down. These kind of games, this kind of season, we usually lose those games, but we stayed true to our tactics and we stayed true to our game plan. They had more of the ball, of course, but we limited them to a couple good chances,” Beasley said.
