Match Preview: Houston Dynamo vs. Seattle Sounders FC

THE BASICS
Houston Dynamo vs. Seattle Sounders FC
Wednesday, August 24, 2016, 7:45 p.m. CT
BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, Texas

TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE

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
A pair of clubs in real need of points if they’re going to haul themselves back into the Western Conference playoff picture meet when the Houston Dynamo play host to Seattle Sounders FC on Wednesday evening at BBVA Compass Stadium. The Dynamo put an end to a six-game winless run with a 2-1 win at the San Jose Earthquakes last Friday, leaving them eight points below the red line at the foot of the conference standings with 10 matches to play. Sounders FC have reeled off three wins in a row, the last a 3-1 win against arch-rivals Portland Timbers on Sunday evening at CenturyLink Field, now sitting just two points below the red line in eighth place in the division.

REFEREE: Armando Villarreal. AR1 (bench): Jonathan Johnson; AR2 (opposite): Jeffrey Greeson; 4th: Caleb Mendez
MLS Career: 70 games; FC/gm: 22.8; Y/gm: 2.9; R: 19; pens: 19

INJURY REPORT, PRESENTED BY HOUSTON METHODIST (as of August 16)

HOUSTON DYNAMO—OUT: Tyler Deric – left elbow sprain; QUESTIONABLE: DaMarcus Beasley – left knee surgery

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC—OUT: Aaron Kovar – right clavicle fracture; QUESTIONABLE: Román Torres – left ACL tear

HEAD-TO-HEAD

• ALL-TIME (12 meetings): Dynamo 3 wins, 13 goals … Sounders FC 5 wins, 16 goals … Ties 4
• AT HOUSTON (6 meetings): Dynamo 3 wins, 11 goals … Sounders FC 0 wins, 6 goals … Ties 3
• FUTURE MATCH: 10/12: Seattle Sounders FC vs. Houston Dynamo, 7:30 p.m. PT
• The teams are meeting for the second time this season. Giles Barnes gave the Dynamo a first-half lead, but Sounders FC’s Chad Marshall scored deep into second-half stoppage time for the equalizer as the teams reached a 1-1 draw April 10 at BBVA Compass Stadium.
• The Dynamo have never lost to Sounders FC in Houston. In six meetings all-time there, the Dynamo have won three, with three draws. The Dynamo also won a game in the 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs.
• Sounders FC have never lost to the Dynamo in Seattle. In six league meetings all-time, Sounders FC have won five, with one draw, outscoring Houston 10-2, following their 1-0 win last April 4 at CenturyLink Field. Sounders FC also won a U.S. Open Cup match at home vs. Houston; the teams played a scoreless draw in Seattle in the 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs.
• Coaches record: Wade Barrett vs. SEA: first game … Brian Schmetzer vs. HOU: first game

LAST MEETING

• 4/10: HOU 1, SEA 1 (Barnes 35 – Marshall 94+)
• The Dynamo took the lead after 35 minutes, when a Jalil Anibaba pass found Giles Barnes completely unmarked in the center of the area and he casually looped an effort over Stefan Frei in the Seattle goal.
• But Sounders FC hit for the leveler with the last kick of the game, as Oalex Anderson's fizzing cross wasn't cleared and center back Chad Marshall was left with an easy finish deep into stoppage time.
• HOUSTON DYNAMO (4-2-3-1): Joe Willis - Jalil Anibaba, David Horst, Raul Rodriguez, DaMarcus Beasley - Alex, Ricardo Clark - Andrew Wenger (Leonel Miranda 75), Cristian Maidana (Boniek Garcia 67), Giles Barnes (David Rocha 90) - Will Bruin.
• SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC (4-1-2-3): Stefan Frei - Tyrone Mears, Brad Evans, Chad Marshall, Joevin Jones (Dylan Remick 71) - Osvaldo Alonso - Clint Dempsey, Cristian Roldan - Aaron Kovar (Oalex Anderson 63), Jordan Morris (Herculez Gomez 79), Andreas Ivanschitz.

HOUSTON DYNAMO
The Houston Dynamo put an end to their winless streak after six matches, defeating the San Jose Earthquakes 2-1 on Friday evening at Avaya Stadium. The Dynamo are in 10th place in the Western Conference with 24 points from 24 games

LAST GAME

• The Houston Dynamo took the early lead when Ricardo Clark finished Cristian Maidana's cross which took a deflection and trickled across the Quakes' penalty area in the sixth minute.
• Five minutes into the second half, the Dynamo doubled their lead to 2-0 when David Horst headed in a Maidana free kick from the left flank.
• The home side pulled a goal back in the 54th minute, when Victor Bernardez scored his first goal of the season, sending in Alberto Quintero's cross from the center of the area, but the home side could get no closer.
• Dynamo interim head coach Wade Barrett made three changes to the team that reached a 1-1 draw with Toronto FC at BBVA Compass Stadium. David Horst and Raul Rodriguez came into the back four in place of Agus and Abdoulie Mansally, and Ricardo Clark came into the side in place of Andrew Wenger.
• HOUSTON DYNAMO (4-2-3-1): Joe Willis - Sheanon Williams, David Horst, Raul Rodriguez, Jalil Anibaba - Ricardo Clark, Collen Warner - Boniek Garcia (Eric Alexander 86), Cristian Maidana (Andrew Wenger 59), Alex - Mauro Manotas (Will Bruin 64)

TEAM NEWS

• The Dynamo put an end to a six-game winless run in the win against the Earthquakes. It was the club’s first victory since July 2, the second in 12 matches after Wade Barrett took over as interim head coach.
• The Dynamo will be aiming to win consecutive league matches for the first time this season in the Sounders FC contest, after not having followed any of their first four victories with another.
• “It was not a perfect game, from our side of things. But it’s a perfect result. … The team, right now, needed a win,” said Barrett. “We’ve been really close in some other results. We’ve played well enough to get a win, and it just hasn’t been there for us.”
• The Dynamo also put an end to their road winless streak after 20 matches with the win in San Jose, their first on their travels since July 18, 2015, tied for the fifth-longest such run in MLS history.
• “It’s something that we’ve been working for since a long time ago, but to be honest with you, it was not the best game that we did on the road,” defender Raul Rodriguez said. “It was not exactly the best performance, especially offensively. We lost a lot of balls and we were defending, all the time. I would say, like, 70-75 percent of the time defending.”
• Ricardo Clark scored his fourth goal of the season in league play, his first since June 2, now having scored four goals or more in each of the last four seasons after not scoring more than three in any of his first eight MLS campaigns.
• David Horst scored his third goal of the season, his first since April 15. Horst scored two goals total over his first eight MLS seasons combined, his first goal coming in 2012.
• Raul Rodriguez made his first start since July 23, coming into central defense and playing the full 90 minutes. He came off the substitutes’ bench in the Toronto FC game after missing two matches through injury.
• “You can easily just let [the season] go, after so many games when you are there and you just need one goal or you are losing the game in minute 90, 92 – that happened a lot to us,” Rodriguez said. “You can just say, ‘OK, just 10 games left, whatever.’ But we did not do that. We were pretty strong, even if it was not a game we controlled. We were tough to play against, and I would say that’s something we’ve been bringing every game since the last three months. That’s something great.”