THE BASICS
Houston Dynamo vs. New York Red Bulls
Friday, July 4, 7:30 p.m. CT
BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, TX
BROADCAST INFORMATION
NBC Sports Network - 7:30 p.m. CHANNEL LISTINGS
Yahoo Sports Radio 1560 AM - 7:30 p.m. (7:00 p.m. pregame)
La Ranchera 850 AM - 7:30 p.m. (7:00 p.m. pregame)
PREVIEW
The Houston Dynamo will be looking to put an end to a long slide when they meet the New York Red Bulls for a second time this season on the Fourth of July at BBVA Compass Stadium. The Dynamo have lost a club-record five games in a row – now having gone nearly seven hours without a goal – following their 3-0 loss at Montréal last weekend. The Red Bulls, who hit the road following a 2-2 draw with Toronto FC last Friday, defeated the Dynamo 4-0 earlier this season at Red Bull Arena.
REFEREE: Ismail Elfath. SAR (bench): Kermit Quisenberry; JAR (opposite): Craig Lowry; 4th: Armando Villarreal MLS Career: 31 games; FC/gm: 25.1; Y/gm: 3.1; R: 9; pens: 10
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: NY: Roy Miller (CRC)
INJURY REPORT, PRESENTED BY HOUSTON METHODIST (as of Thursday, July 3)
HOUSTON DYNAMO -- OUT: Ricardo Clark – Concussion; Tony Cascio – Right knee surgery; Mark Sherrod – Left knee ACL tear; QUESTIONABLE: Corey Ashe – Right knee effusion; Jermaine Taylor – hip contusion
NEW YORK RED BULLS -- OUT: Dax McCarty – knee injury
HEAD-TO-HEAD
- ALL-TIME (19 meetings): Dynamo 3 wins, 17 goals … Red Bulls 9 wins, 30 goals … Ties 7
- AT HOUSTON (9 meetings): Dynamo 3 wins, 13 goals … Red Bulls 2 wins, 12 goals … Ties 4
- FUTURE MATCH: 10/4: New York Red Bulls vs. Houston Dynamo, 6 p.m. ET
- The teams are meeting for the second time this season. Bradley Wright-Phillips netted a hat trick to lead the Red Bulls to a 4-0 win April 23 at Red Bull Arena, the first English player in the history of Major League Soccer to hit for a triple.
- The Red Bulls have won the last five league contests between the teams, outscoring the Dynamo 15-1. The Red Bulls have won on their last two visits to Houston in league play; before last season, the Dynamo were meeting 4-0-3 all-time at home vs. New York. The Red Bulls are 7-0-3 all-time at home vs. Houston.
- The Red Bulls’ 4-1 win at BBVA Compass Stadium last Sept. 8 was the most goals the Dynamo had allowed in a home game (matched earlier this season in a 4-1 loss to FC Dallas).
- The Dynamo did win the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series between the clubs last year, winning 2-1 at Red Bull Arena in the second leg, after the teams played to a 2-2 draw in Houston. It is the Dynamo’s only win ever in Harrison in all competitions.
- Coaches record: Mike Petke vs. HOU: P4 W4 L0 D0 … Dominic Kinnear vs. NY: P24 W6 L10 D8
HOUSTON DYNAMO
The Houston Dynamo suffered their fifth consecutive shutout defeat, this time falling 3-0 to the Montréal Impact on Sunday evening at Stade Saputo. The Dynamo are in eighth place in the Eastern Conference with 17 points from 17 games.
LAST MATCH
- The opener came in the 42nd minute. Pushing forward down the left, fullback Eric Miller curled a perfect cross to Jack McInerney, who had ghosted in unmarked in the box, and his header easily found the back of the net.
- McInerney added a splendid second goal in the 75th minute. Justin Mapp crossed the ball from the right flank in the general direction of McInerney, who – with his back to goal – swung his foot at the ball and sent a looping ball over Dynamo goalkeeper Tally Hall into the opposite top corner.
- Marco Di Vaio added the Impact's third goal four minutes later, tapping in from inside the six-yard box after Hall could only parry Andres Romero’s close-range attempt into the striker’s path.
- Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear made four changes to the team that fell 2-0 to Sporting Kansas City at BBVA Compass Stadium. Tally Hall came back in between the posts in place of Tyler Deric, Corey Ashe returned to the back four for David Horst, and Boniek Garcia and Warren Creavalle came back into the midfield in place of Alexander Lopez and Servando Carrasco.
- HOUSTON DYNAMO (4-3-1-2): Tally Hall - Kofi Sarkodie, Jermaine Taylor (Eric Brunner 46), A.J. Cochran, Corey Ashe - Boniek Garcia, Warren Creavalle (Ricardo Clark 74), Andrew Driver - Giles Barnes - Will Bruin, Omar Cummings (Brian Ownby 59).
TEAM NEWS
- The Houston Dynamo suffered their fifth consecutive shutout defeat – all by multiple goals – in the loss at Montréal.
- “It’s just football in general. If you defend well and finish you end up with results,” said defender Kofi Sarkodie. “We just unfortunately lost some guys in the box and they were able to finish. We’ve got to be more organized defensively and be better in the box and finish.”
- Outscored 13-0 in league games since May 21, the Dynamo have now gone 479 minutes since scoring in MLS, a Houston club record and the seventh-longest goalless streak in league history.
- “It’s the way things are going,” Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear said. “Win a game. Gives you confidence.”
- Added goalkeeper Tally Hall: “It’s another frustrating game for us. … There’s no easy answers is the simple thing to say and we need to do better. I will say that trainings have been some of the sharpest we’ve had this year. I think our intensity and passion’s there. We believe in ourselves, it’s not coming to fruition but that doesn’t mean it won’t.”
- Boniek García returned from playing with Honduras in the FIFA World Cup and came into a wide midfield role, playing the full 90 minutes.
- Ricardo Clark made his first appearance since April 23 – when he suffered a concussion in the first meeting with New York – coming off the substitutes’ bench for the final 16 minutes.
- Corey Ashe also returned after missing one league match through injury, returning to play left back. Eric Brunner made his second appearance of the season, coming off the substitutes’ bench at halftime.
- “It’s good to get those guys back,” Sarkodie said. “Brad [Davis] will be back in time and hopefully we can get everything going and get everything back on all fronts.”
- Said Kinnear: “It’s not only the game and the availability of players but also the preparation that makes practice better. We’ve said it all along, it’s not going to be an overnight fix to have these guys, they’ve still got to work their way in, but to see their presence on the [training] field is a positive.”
