THE BASICS
Houston Dynamo at Portland Timbersd
Sunday, June 26, 2016, 5:00 p.m. CT
Providence Park, Portland, Oregon
BROADCAST INFORMATION
ESPN2 - 5:00 p.m. (CHANNEL LISTINGS)
650 AM / Radio.com app- 5:00 p.m.
Univision Radio 1010 AM - 5:00 p.m.
PREVIEW
Two clubs looking to haul themselves back into playoff positioning in the Western Conference meet for the first time this season in a critical match when the Portland Timbers play host to the Houston Dynamo on Sunday afternoon before an ESPN audience. The Timbers sit in eighth place in the conference, a point below the red line, their undefeated streak at four games following a 2-2 draw at Real Salt Lake last weekend. The Dynamo are a further six points back, at the foot of the division following a third consecutive draw in a scoreless result last Saturday at BBVA Compass Stadium
REFEREE: Hilario Grajeda. AR1 (bench): James Conlee; AR2 (opposite): Anthony Vasoli; 4th: Baboucarr Jallow
MLS Career: 129 games; FC/gm: 24.0; Y/gm: 3.4; R: 22; pens: 21
INJURY REPORT, PRESENTED BY HOUSTON METHODIST (as of June 21)
HOUSTON DYNAMO—DOUBTFUL: Rob Lovejoy – right ankle; QUESTIONABLE: GIles Barnes – right Achilles tendinopathy;
PORTLAND TIMBERS—OUT: Adam Kwarasey – finger;
HEAD-TO-HEAD
- ALL-TIME (8 meetings): Timbers 2 wins, 9 goals … Dynamo 3 wins, 10 goals … Ties 3
- AT PORTLAND (4 meetings): Timbers 2 wins, 6 goals … Dynamo 1 win, 4 goals … Ties 1
- RETURN MATCH: 9/24: Houston Dynamo vs. Portland Timbers, 7:30 p.m. CT
- LAST YEAR [MLS]: 5/16: HOU 3, POR 1 (Bruin 9, 83; Barnes 75 – Adi 48); 6/20: POR 2, HOU 0 (Urruti 34; Fernandez 61); 8/21: POR 2, HOU 2 (Nagbe 76; Melano 86 – Garcia 40; Bruin 45)
- The teams evenly split their three meetings a year ago. The Dynamo won 3-1 on May 16 at BBVA Compass Stadium and the Timbers won 2-0 on June 20 at Providence Park; the teams also reached a 2-2 draw, Aug. 21 in Portland.
- The Timbers have won twice in eight meetings all-time in the series, winning two of the last three meetings at Providence Park. The Dynamo have won two of the four meetings all-time in Houston, with two draws.
- Coaches record: Caleb Porter vs. HOU: P5 W2 L1 D2 … Wade Barrett vs. POR: first game
HOUSTON DYNAMO
The Houston Dynamo played to a third consecutive draw, ending in a goalless result with D.C. United on Saturday evening at BBVA Compass Stadium. The Dynamo are in 10th place in the Western Conference with 14 points from 15 games.
LAST GAME
- After the start of the match was delayed by heavy weather prior to kickoff, neither team got off to a great start, with no shots on target over the opening 45 minutes.
- United goalkeeper Bill Hamid was called upon to make four saves in keeping the clean sheet, saving the result with a spectacular save from a Mauro Manotas effort in the final seconds, also saved by the woodwork on a Will Bruin shot five minutes after halftime. Dynamo goalkeeper Tyler Deric was credited with three saves.
- Dynamo interim head coach Wade Barrett made no changes to the team that played to a 1-1 result with FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium.
- HOUSTON DYNAMO (4-1-4-1): Tyler Deric - Jalil Anibaba, David Horst, Raul Rodriguez, DaMarcus Beasley - Collen Warner - Andrew Wenger (Leonel Miranda 74), Ricardo Clark, Boniek Garcia, Cristian Maidana (Alex 68) - Will Bruin (Mauro Manotas 78).
TEAM NEWS
- It was a third consecutive draw for the Dynamo, all since Wade Barrett has taken over as the interim head coach following the departure of Owen Coyle. The Dynamo had their overall winless run in league play extended to four games.
- “I think we all feel a little bit disappointed not to come away with three points tonight, but what I’ve told the boys and I truly believe, at some point we are truly going to be devastated to not pick up points,” Barrett said.
- It was a fourth shutout of the season at the attacking end for the Dynamo. They have scored nine goals over their last 12 games, after scoring an MLS-record 11 goals over the opening three games of the season.
- The Dynamo recorded a fourth clean sheet of the season, the third in the last seven games. It was the second shutout of the season for Tyler Deric, his first since a 2-0 win against Sporting KC on May 7.
- “I’ve asked the guys to be tough to play against. I’ve asked them to limit chances. I’ve asked them to make it so that every team that comes in here knows that it’s a battle from minute one to minute 90 whatever it’s going to be. We kept a shutout tonight. I’m proud of that,” Barrett said.
- Said defender David Horst: “From Tyler all the way forward we are disciplined. We are compact and we’ve tough to break down. That’s going to take us a long way in this league. Tonight we didn’t get a goal, but we kept a zero. If we can keep keeping zeros, all we need is one goal per game and we can build off of that.”
- Barrett made no changes to his team for a first time since taking over the coaching reins. He made two changes to his team from his first game in charge to his second.
- “As the game went on we were doing good when we spread the game out. When we won the ball and we had good width. We talked about kind of opening. And when we move the ball quickly, it didn’t have to be a killer pass, but when we won it on one side of the field and we move quickly to the other side we were finding some success. Where we actually do get width and maybe we have a little pass inside and then we were finding those channels in behind,” Barrett said.
- Said DaMarcus Beasley: “If he wants to tinker with the lineup that’s his decision. We are just the players. We come in and train every week and hopefully try to make the starting lineup. That’s what is good about this team. Even the guys that aren’t starting, they work hard in training. We don’t have any sour apples in this team and that’s what we need going forward. If Wade does decide to change the team I know that the 11 guys that start are going to be ready to get three points.”
- Alex came off the substitutes’ bench at the three-quarter mark of the game, returning to the squad after serving a one-match ban after being sent off May 28 vs. Vancouver.
- “I thought the three subs did a good job. I thought they brought energy to the group. (Alex) Lima played 90 minutes on Wednesday. He came in and gave us good energy, good runs, he’s good on the ball. Boniek (Garcia) had a good night. He was close to making a couple things happen. We looked dangerous on set pieces all night. I’m proud of the effort,” Barrett said.
