THE BASICS
Houston Dynamo at New England Revolution
Saturday, April 12, 4:00 p.m. CT
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA
BROADCAST INFORMATION
CSN Houston - 4:00 p.m. (3:30 p.m. pregame) CHANNEL LISTINGS
MLS LIVE - 4:00 p.m.
Yahoo Sports Radio 1560 AM - 4:00 p.m. (3:30 p.m. pregame)
La Ranchera 850 AM - 4:00 p.m. (3:30 p.m. pregame)
PREVIEW
A pair of Eastern Conference clubs looking to return to their winning ways meet when the New England Revolution entertain the Houston Dynamo on Saturday evening at Gillette Stadium. The Revolution return home following a 2-0 loss at D.C. United last weekend, after winning their first game of the year. The Dynamo have dropped back-to-back contests, coming off a 4-1 defeat by arch-rivals FC Dallas at home at BBVA Compass Stadium last weekend.
REFEREES
REFEREE: Edvin Jurisevic. AR1 (bench): James Conlee; AR2 (opposite): Peter Balciunas; 4th: Robert Sibiga
MLS Career: 69 games; FC/gm: 22.5; Y/gm: 3.4; R: 9; pens: 10
INJURY REPORT, PRESENTED BY HOUSTON METHODIST
HOUSTON DYNAMO -- OUT: Eric Brunner – Right ankle surgery; DOUBTFUL: Brad Davis -- Right ankle sprain; SUSPENDED: David Horst
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION -- QUESTIONABLE: Kelyn Rowe -- L hamstring strain; Donnie Smith -- L foot contusion; Chris Tierney -- L hip irritation; SUSPENDED: Jay Heaps (head coach)
HEAD-TO-HEAD
- ALL-TIME (17 meetings): Revolution 7 wins, 22 goals … Dynamo 4 wins, 17 goals … Ties 6
- AT NEW ENGLAND (9 meetings): Revolution 2 wins, 13 goals … Dynamo 2 wins, 12 goals … Ties 5
- RETURN MATCHES: 10/16: Houston Dynamo vs. New England Revolution, 7 pm CT
- The teams split their regular-season series a year ago, each team winning at the other’s home ground before reaching a 1-1 draw in Foxborough on Sept. 28.
- Houston’s 2-1 win at Gillette Stadium last July 13 was its first win at New England since 2009; the Revolution’s win at BBVA Compass Stadium last May 18 was their first win at Houston since 2010.
- Coaches record: Jay Heaps vs. HOU: P6 W1 L3 D2 … Dominic Kinnear vs. NE: P23 W8 L7 D8
HOUSTON DYNAMO
The Houston Dynamo suffered their first home loss and conceded a goal at home for the first time in 2014, falling 4-1 to FC Dallas on Saturday evening at at BBVA Compass Stadium. The Dynamo are in a tie for fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 6 points from 4 games.
LAST MATCH
- FC Dallas took the lead in the 31st minute, After Ricardo Clark brought down Mauro Diaz from behind in a sea of players near the penalty spot, Michel stepped to the spot and struck a well-placed shot.
- But 10 minutes later, the Dynamo were level. From a free kick nearly on the goal line in the left corner, Brad Davis swung in a service that found Clark and he made no mistake, placing his header inside the back post.
- The game changed in the 60th minute when David Horst slid in to tackle Fabion Castillo on the sideline, catching Castillo from the side. Referee Ricardo Salazar went directly to his back pocket, sending off Horst.
- Barely a minute later, FCD was in front. Michel put in a cultured free kick that found midfielder Je-Vaughn Watson, who headed home from inside the area.
- The visitors put the game away with two goals in three minutes. In the 68th minute, Giles Barnes glanced a header into his own goal to double the FCD lead. Then in the 70th, Watson completed his brace by racing into the box and easily slotting home another Mauro Diaz pass.
- The Dynamo had a chance to pull a goal back after Jair Benitez fouled Kofi Sarkodie on the edge of the penalty box, but FCD goalkeeper Chris Seitz dove to his right to reject the penalty kick attempt from Boniek Garcia.
- Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear made no changes to his team for a second consecutive week, keeping the group that fell 2-1 to Vancouver Whitecaps FC at BC Place.
- HOUSTON DYNAMO (4-3-1-2): Tally Hall - Kofi Sarkodie, Jermaine Taylor, David Horst (ejected 60), Corey Ashe - Boniek Garcia, Ricardo Clark (Warren Creavalle 85), Andrew Driver (A.J. Cochran 62) - Brad Davis (Tony Cascio 46) - Giles Barnes, Will Bruin.
TEAM NEWS
- The Dynamo saw their season-opening winning and shutout streaks at BBVA Compass Stadium come to a crashing halt in the loss to FC Dallas, their heaviest loss ever to their in-state rivals.
- “Right now, I think we’re our own worst enemy,” said forward Will Bruin. “It’s not like an unlucky roll of the ball or something, it’s stuff we’re hurting ourselves with right now. ... Looking at this year, I don’t think any team that’s beaten us is better than us. We’re playing good stuff and kind of let them off the hook a little bit. It’s just something you learn from.”
- The four goals allowed by the Dynamo in a home match matched the club record ñ previously set last Sept. 8 in a 4-1 loss to the New York Red Bulls. It was the third time in the last 14 league games, dating back to last season, where the Dynamo allowed four goals or more.
- “I look back to last year at Montreal, where we lost [5-0] and just like this game it wasn’t a 4-0 game,” said Bruin. “By that I mean it was just one of those games that got away and everything clicked for Dallas once we lost that man and they got that goal. Then we put our heads down and it is what it is.”
- For a second consecutive week, the lone Dynamo goal came on a Ricardo Clark header from a Brad Davis free kick service. Clark has been involved in three of the Dynamo’s seven goals this season.
- “I’ve not been a game where we’ve been so far ahead of a team and just throw it away like we did,” said midfielder Andrew Driver. “I think this is one that hurts so much because I feel for an hour of the game we dominated so much. We’ll end up fine, but obviously it’s gutting and at the moment it’s hard to take. There are a few positives we can take, but we just need to cut out those little negatives.”
- While one goal conceded officially came through a set piece, the own goal scored by FC Dallas started from a dead-ball opportunity, and for a second consecutive match the Dynamo conceded a penalty kick.
- “They got some goals off of some set pieces and we ended up chasing the game,” said Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear. “I thought we were really good for those 60 minutes and obviously the red card and the one man advantage really worked in their favor, so they took advantage of the situation while we walked off of the field very disappointed.”
- Said Bruin: “We’re getting beaten on restarts like in the last two games, and those are all things that we can easily fix and once we right the ship with that I think we’re good.”
