The Basics
Houston Dynamo at Orlando City SC
Saturday, September 22, 2018, 6:30 p.m. CT
Orlando City Stadium, Orlando, Florida
Broadcast Information
KUBE 57 – 6:00 p.m. (CHANNEL LISTINGS)
ESPN+ – 6:30 p.m. (out-of-market)
650 AM/Radio.com app – 6:00 p.m.
Univision Radio 1010 AM – 6:00 p.m.
Preview
Fresh off a big win over the Portland Timbers, the Houston Dynamo seek consecutive wins for the first time since late May when they take on an Orlando City SC side that has won just once in their last 19 games.
While the Dynamo snapped a 10-game winless streak with a 4-1 home win over the Timbers, the Lions dropped a 4-0 decision to the Chicago Fire Sunday afternoon.
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Orlando City SC
Orlando (7-18-3) is coming off back-to-back shutout defeats, including falling to the Chicago Fire, 4-0, Sunday at Toyota Park.
Nemanja Nikolic scored the first of his two goals three minutes after kickoff and Aleksandar Katai doubled the lead just before the half hour mark. Michael de Leeuw made it 3-0 in the 56th minute and Nikolic added his second 20 minutes from full time.
“There are individuals that I think are trying,” James O’Connor said. “I think there are other individuals that maybe believe that they’re trying, but I think overall, when you look at the commitment today, I think it leaves you with a lot of questions asking around the level of commitment, the level of motivation and the character of individuals.”
- Suspended: None
- Suspended after next caution: M - Sacha Kljestan, F - Dom Dwyer
- International duty: None
- Injury Report: OUT: GK - Mason Stajduhar (Localized Ewing Sarcoma), D - Chris Schuler (groin injury); QUESTIONABLE: D - Lamine Sane (quad injury)
Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Joe Bendik — Scott Sutter, Shane O’Neill, Jonathan Spector, Carlos Ascues — Uri Rosell, Yoshi Yotun — Josue Colman, Sacha Kljestan, Mohamed El-Munir — Dom Dwyer
Houston Dynamo
The Dynamo (8-13-7) gave Wilmer Cabrera a perfect birthday present, beating the Portland Timbers, 4-1, Saturday night at BBVA Compass Stadium.
After falling behind on an Alejandro Fuenmayor own goal in the 9th minute, Alberth Elis leveled in the 32nd minute and then set up Mauro Manotas for the first of consecutive goals seven minutes later. Manotas got his brace in the 71st minute and Fuenmayor struck 10 minutes later.
“The best gift to see, not just winning, but to see your players going on the field and giving 100 percent — that’s the best gift that we can have,” Cabrera said. “And that’s something that I’m proud of. We’ve been going through a lot of difficulties, no doubt about it, but this team, I believe in this team. I believe in the players. And today they showed that they believe in themselves.”
- Suspended: None
- Suspended after next caution: M - Boniek Garcia, M - Adam Lundqvist, M - Darwin Ceren
- International duty: None
- Injury Report: OUT: D - A.J. DeLaGarza (torn left ACL), F - Mac Steeves
Projected Starting XI
(4-3-3, right to left)
GK: Joe Willis — Andrew Wenger, Jared Watts, Alejandro Fuenmayor, DaMarcus Beasley — Tomas Martinez, Eric Alexander, Boniek Garcia — Alberth Elis, Mauro Manotas, Romell Quioto
All-Time Series
- Overall: Orlando City SC 1 win, 1 goal … Houston Dynamo 1 win, 4 goals … 1 draw
- At Orlando: Orlando City SC 0 wins, 0 goals … Dynamo 0 wins, 0 goals … 1 draw
- Last meeting at Orlando: Orlando City SC 0, Houston Dynamo 0 (July 8, 2016)
Officials
Referee: Baldomero Toledo
Assistant Referees: Frank Anderson, Corey Parker
4th Official: Sorin Stoica
VAR: Younes Marrakchi
