Houston Dynamo FC open a two-game road trip on Saturday against the Colorado Rapids. Saturday’s match will air live in English on AT&T SportsNet and in Spanish on TeleXitos 47.2
The Dynamo look to bounce back after the fell in a back-and-forth shootout with Club de Foot Montreal last Saturday. Houston took an early lead after captain Hector Herrera found Sebas Ferreira at the edge of the box with a pin-point cross. Ferreira controlled the ball with his right foot over a Montréal defender and finished with his opposite leg for the first goal of the game. Defender Daniel Steres scored his first goal for the club minutes later to tie the game at 2-2. Memo Rodriguez tallied his third assist of the season on the equalizer and finished the game with three recoveries.
Defensively, the Dynamo navigated the absence of Teenage Hadebe due to injury and Tim Parker due to health and safety protocol. The team signed Dynamo 2 center backs Talen Maples and Micael for Saturday’s game against Montreal. Micael entered at halftime and finished with one recovery and four clearances. The Dynamo is able to sign Dynamo 2 players four times a season (two regular season games/two non-regular season games) to the first team on short term loans. With the loan for Saturday’s game against Montreal, Micael is eligible to play in one more additional regular season match.
This is the second meeting of the regular season between both teams and the first match finished in a 1-1 draw. The draw snapped a three-game losing streak to the Rapids and the Dynamo aim to earn their first triumph in the series since a 4-1 victory at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on March 30, 2019.
The Rapids return to Colorado after a midweek trip to Vancouver. Gyasi Zardes found the back of the net in the 76th minute to bring the Rapids within one of the ‘Caps, but Vancouver held on to earn a 2-1 victory at BC Place on Wednesday. Zardes has scored seven goals for Colorado this season after joining the team in April from the Columbus Crew. The Dynamo close the two-game road trip in Minnesota on national television. Houston returns to PNC Stadium on Aug. 31 to host Carlos Vela, Gareth Bale and LAFC.
Here are three key points ahead of Saturday’s game:
- FERREIRA STRIKES AGAIN: Forward Sebas Ferreira tallied his eighth goal of the campaign on Saturday and has a slight edge over Darwin Quintero for the most goals scored this season. Ferreira looks to be the eighth player to win the team golden boot outright and only the second player to do so in their first season with the team. Forward Fafa Picault was the first player to win the golden boot in his first season with the team in 2021.
- QUINTERO KEY IN FINAL THIRD: Forward Darwin Quintero leads the team in chances created with 50 and nine big chances created through 25 games this campaign. Additionally, the Colombian playmaker has the fifth highest shot-creating action average in the league per 90 minutes at 5.67 according to FBRef.com. Quintero needs to tally eight more shot-creating actions to reach 100 for the year and he would be the eighth player in the league to reach that number. That list currently includes playmakers like Carlos Vera, Luciano Acosta and Carles Gil. A key weapon in Quintero’s arsenal is the through ball and he currently ranks third for the most through balls in league play with nine.
- COLORADO OFFENSE KEEPS RAPIDS IN PLAYOFF HUNT: With Wednesday’s goal the Colorado Rapids have scored in each of their last nine games. They have scored 18 goals in that span and enter Saturday’s record with a 3-3-3 record since July 4. Colorado currently sits in 11th place at 31 points and two points behind the LA Galaxy and Vancouver Whitecaps for the seventh spot in the Western Conference.
