THE BASICS:
Sunday, Aug. 25 – 7:00 p.m. CDT
Houston Dynamo at FC Dallas
On TV: FS1
Radio: Univision Radio 1010 AM
MATCH CENTER
THE PREVIEW
The Houston Dynamo travel to Frisco, Texas on Sunday for the second leg of the Texas Derby against FC Dallas. The match will air live at 7 p.m. on FS1 from Toyota Stadium and the Dynamo would take the season series and El Capitan with a victory or a draw against their in-state rival.
Interim head coach Davy Arnaud will look for his first victory with the club after the Dynamo snapped a four-game losing streak last Saturday at BBVA Stadium. A late second half brace from Mauro Manotas earned the Dynamo a valuable point as Houston sit six points from the final playoff spot with eight games left in the regular season.
Manotas currently leads the team in goals with 11 and after Saturday’s brace the Colombian forward became the first player in club history to score 10 or more goals in three consecutive seasons. Defender Adam Lundkvist tallied his fourth assist of the season and Tommy McNamara came off the bench to set up the equalizer, his third assist of the year.
Houston will look to Manotas for an encore after the Colombian forward scored a brace in the first leg of the Texas Derby in May. A multi-goal game on Sunday would give Manotas sole possession of the most multi-goal games in club history after he tied Will Bruin last Saturday with eight.
FC Dallas enters Sunday’s game with one victory in their last five games as they sit in eighth place – trailing the Portland Timbers by goal differential for the final playoff spot. Dallas enters the game with momentum as they salvaged a draw in Canada after going down 3-0 to the Montreal Impact in the first 60 minutes of the game.
THREE POINTS:
H-TOWN TWO-STEP – The Houston and Dallas rivalry consumes North Texas this weekend as the Houston Texans face the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington later this evening at AT&T Stadium. The Dynamo look to hold their own in the Metroplex and build on Houston’s success against Dallas after the Astros claimed the Lone Star Series over the Texas Rangers earlier this year. The Houston Rockets finished the 2018/2019 NBA season with back-to-back victories over the Dallas Mavericks to level the season series and keep Houston on top of their in-state rivals across various competitions in 2019.
POINTS, PRIDE & EL CAPITAN – With a victory or draw the Dynamo would claim much needed points, the season series and El Capitan – a replica 18th century mountain howitzer cannon awarded to the winner of the annual series, for the first time since 2017. The Dynamo won the first leg of the Texas Derby earlier this season with a brace from Mauro Manotas at BBVA Stadium on May 4. The Colombian forward was vital to snapping a four-game winless streak last Saturday and looks to keep etching his name in the club record book after becoming the first Dynamo player to score 10 or more goals in three consecutive seasons.
FC DALLAS OFFENSE RUNS THROUGH MIDFIELD DUO - The FC Dallas midfield is managed by Michael Barrios who has tallied 12 assists this season. Barrios’ last assist came against Montreal last weekend as he found Ryan Hollingshead in the 90th minute to salvage a point on the road. The Colombian midfielder shares the middle of the pitch with one of the most promising youth players from the Lone Star State, Paxton Pomykal. The Texas native has scored two goals and tallied five assists in 19 appearances for Dallas. The midfield duo is a staple for the North Texas side as they look to capitalize on Seattle’s victory over the Portland Timbers on Friday night– a victory or draw would push Dallas into the seventh place in a tight race to qualify for the Audi MLS Cup playoffs.
