THE BASICS
Houston Dynamo at San Jose Earthquakes
Friday, June 26, 8:00 p.m. CT
Providence Park, Portland, Oregon
BROADCAST INFORMATION
UniMás - 10:00 p.m. CHANNEL LISTINGS | WATCH IN ENGLISH
Yahoo Sports Radio 1560 AM - 10:00 p.m. (9:30 p.m. pregame)
La Ranchera 850 AM / 101.7 FM - 10:00 p.m. (9:30 p.m. pregame)
PREVIEW
The San Jose Earthquakes and Houston Dynamo renew their rivalry for a second time this season when the Western Conference clubs meet at Avaya Stadium on Viernes de Fútbol. Both teams come into the game outside of the top six in the division. The Quakes sit two points out of the final playoff position, seeing their two-game winning run put to an end in a 1-0 loss at the Portland Timbers last weekend. The Dynamo are a further four points further back, winless over their last three matches following a 1-1 home draw with the Chicago Fire last week.
REFEREE: Sorin Stoica. AR1 (bench): Chris Strickland; AR2 (opposite): Jason White; 4th: Baldomero Toledo
MLS Career: 36 games; FC/gm: 28.6; Y/gm: 4.1; R: 18; pens: 20
INJURY REPORT, PRESENTED BY HOUSTON METHODIST (as of Wednesday, July 8)
HOUSTON DYNAMO – OUT: Rob Lovejoy – Right hamstring strain; PROBABALE: Brad Davis – Right knee bone bruise
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES – OUT: Innocent – Left knee, Steven Lenhart – Right knee arthroscopy; QUESTIONABLE: Matias Perez Garcia – Left hamstring
SUSPENDED: SJ: Jordan Stewart (through July 12)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: SJ: Chris Wondolowski (USA, CONCACAF Gold Cup); Cordell Cato (Trinidad & Tobago, CONCACAF Gold Cup) … HOU: Boniek Garcia, Luis Garrido (Honduras, CONCACAF Gold Cup); Giles Barnes, Jermaine Taylor (Jamaica, CONCACAF Gold Cup)
HEAD-TO-HEAD
- ALL-TIME (13 meetings): Earthquakes 6 wins, 17 goals … Dynamo 6 wins, 16 goals … Ties 1
- AT SAN JOSE (7 meetings): Earthquakes 4 wins, 11 goals … Dynamo 2 wins, 6 goals … Ties 1
- FUTURE MATCH: 8/8: Houston Dynamo vs. San Jose Earthquakes, 7 p.m. CT
- The teams are meeting for the second time this season. Adam Jahn scored the game’s only goal to give the Earthquakes the victory, May 5 at BBVA Compass Stadium.
- The Quakes have won the last two meetings in the series, their first wins against the Dynamo since 2011.
- The two teams have shared a pitched rivalry since the Earthquakes returned to the league in 2008, after the Dynamo moved to Houston from San Jose in 2006. Each team has won six meetings, with one draw.
- This will be first year since 2011 the series will include more than one meeting during the regular season, with both clubs now in the Western Conference.
- Coaches record: Dominic Kinnear vs. HOU: P1 W1 L0 T0 … Owen Coyle vs. SJ: P1 W0 L1 T0
HOUSTON DYNAMO
The Houston Dynamo had their winless run extended to three games, the Chicago Fire coming back for a 1-1 draw on Friday evening at BBVA Compass Stadium. The Dynamo are in ninth place in the Western Conference with 21 points from 18 matches.
LAST MATCH
- The Dynamo opened the scoring in the 56th minute. Brad Davis skipped through the left side of the Fire defense, played a quick one-two then drove a low ball goalward Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson had trouble corralling. Alex was first to it, tapping home the loose ball into the goal from close range.
- The leveler came in the 72nd minute. From a Greg Cochrane cross into the box, Patrick Nyarko ran onto the pass and slid into Dynamo goalkeeper Joe Willis. The ball fell free behind Nyarko just yards from goal, and he popped up quickly and hooked the ball back into the goal.
- Dynamo head coach Owen Coyle made two changes to the team that fell 2-0 to FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium. Joe Willis came in between the posts in place of Tyler Deric, and Brad Davis started out wide for Rob Lovejoy.
- HOUSTON DYNAMO (4-4-1-1): Joe Willis - Raul Rodriguez, David Horst, Jermaine Taylor, DaMarcus Beasley - Alexander Lopez (Alex 53), Luis Garrido, Ricardo Clark, Brad Davis (Leonel Miranda 77) - Giles Barnes - Will Bruin (Mauro Manotas 78).
TEAM NEWS
- The Dynamo snapped their two-game losing run but still saw their winless streak extended to three games, scoring their first goal after back-to-back attacking shutouts vs. Portland and Dallas.
- “We had one or two other chances to put the game to bed, but what we did then, all of a sudden we give up two points because really we were expecting three, so it's disappointing not to win the game, of course,” said Dynamo head coach Owen Coyle. “Unfortunately, at the moment we're not there, but we'll get where we need to be. Disappointing not to win the game but certainly positive the way we scored the goal, and got in front. But when you do that, you have to see that through.”
- Said Dynamo striker Will Bruin: “When you’re up 1-0 at home and you give up a goal like that, that’s weak; end of story. That starts from the front and goes to the back. It’s no individual, it’s a team performance, and we’ve just got to be stronger mentally and physically as a team. We’ve got to step up and basically just be men. That’s a terrible result at home. That has to be three points. There’s nothing else to say.”
- Making his third consecutive league appearance, all off the substitutes’ bench, Alex scored his first MLS goal to give the Dynamo the lead.
- Brad Davis returned to the starting lineup in league play for the first time since June 5, playing 77 minutes in his usual left-sided midfield spot. He had come on as a first-half substitute the week before at FC Dallas, after missing out entirely on the Portland game.
- “Sometimes you just have to a gritty attitude when you walk on that field. Unfortunately in this business you can’t always be a nice person. You have to have that chip on your shoulder and be difficult to play against,” said Davis. “Right now I think there’s questions on whether teams don’t like playing us. I know for a fact that in the past that teams did not like coming here and playing against us and we have to get that mentality back.”
- Joe Willis made his first MLS appearance of the season and his league debut with the Dynamo, replacing an ill Tyler Deric. Willis had backstopped win in both U.S. Open Cup victories for the Dynamo.
- While the Dynamo did not have Boniek Garcia after he joined Honduras for CONCACAF Gold Cup preparations, both Jermaine Taylor and Giles Barnes were in the team for a second match after returning from Copa America with Jamaica.
- “I think we've already had to start different players because in the MLS there are intricacies – the various times we have international players missing. … that continuity and that consistency, which everybody craves when you're doing well, which we were, that's taken away from you,” said Coyle. “So ultimately, you end up with a slap in the face. But the important thing is you pick yourself up, you go on. And that's what we do, and we will continue to do that.”
- There will be a fourth international absence after Luis Garrido was called into the Honduras squad as an injury replacement.
- “I take the call with great humility and commitment, we know what it means. Hopefully everything goes well and we can do great things in the tournament,” Garrido told La Prensa in Honduras. “I take it seriously because I know what it means to be in the national team. Now I'm psyched to join and do my best.”
