THE BASICS
Houston Dynamo vs. Orlando City SC
Friday, March 13, 6:00 p.m. CT
BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, Texas
BROADCAST INFORMATION
UniMás - 6:00 p.m. (SAP available) CHANNEL LISTINGS
Yahoo Sports Radio 1560 AM - 6:00 p.m. (5:30 p.m. pregame)
La Ranchera 850 AM - 6:00 p.m. (5:30 p.m. pregame)
PREVIEW
A pair of clubs coming off thrilling openings to the new season meet on Viernes de Fútbol when the Houston Dynamo play host to Orlando City at BBVA Compass Stadium. The Dynamo opened their campaign with a victory, getting the game’s only goal for a win against Columbus Crew SC in Houston. Orlando City SC kicked off their MLS history with a bang, Kaká netting a late equalizer from a deflected free kick in front of a sellout crowd at the Orlando Citrus Bowl for a 1-1 draw with fellow newboys New York City FC.
REFEREE: Chris Penso. AR1 (bench): Kevin Klinger; AR2 (opposite): Mark Cahen; 4th: Armando Villarreal
Penso MLS Career: 59 games; FC/gm: 23.4; Y/gm: 3.2; R: 17; pens: 20
INJURY REPORT, PRESENTED BY HOUSTON METHODIST (as of Wednesday, March 11)
HOUSTON DYNAMO – PROBABLE: Raúl Rodríguez – Right hamstring strain
ORLANDO CITY SC – OUT: Martin Paterson – lower extremity; SUSPENSION: Aurélien Collin – red card
HEAD-TO-HEAD
- ALL-TIME: First meeting
- This is the only league meeting between the teams this season.
- Coaches record: Owen Coyle vs. ORL: first game … Adrian Heath vs. HOU: first game
HOUSTON DYNAMO
The Houston Dynamo kicked off their 10th season in fine fashion, getting the game’s only goal for a 1-0 win against Columbus Crew SC on Saturday evening at BBVA Compass Stadium. The Dynamo are atop the Western Conference, one of four teams with maximum points after one match.
LAST MATCH
- The game's lone goal came in the 66th minute. Minutes after changing his jersey due to bleeding from knock of heads, Kofi Sarkodie cut past a defender down the right flank and put in a cross where Giles Barnes was cutting across the box, and he swiveled to meet the ball, lashing it high into the net.
- Crew SC had 16 shots in the second half but Dynamo goalkeeper Tyler Deric kept them all out -- also saved by the crossbar from a smashing drive by Federico Higuain. Deric finished the match with six saves for the clean sheet.
- Dynamo head coach Owen Coyle ran out a very familiar team in his first game in charge in Houston, with Raul Rodriguez the only newcomer, coming into central defense.
- HOUSTON DYNAMO (4-4-2): Tyler Deric - Kofi Sarkodie, Raul Rodriguez (David Horst 90), Jermaine Taylor, DaMarcus Beasley - Boniek Garcia, Ricardo Clark, Luis Garrido, Brad Davis - Giles Barnes (Chandler Hoffman 90), Will Bruin (Leonel Miranda 57)
TEAM NEWS
- For a fourth consecutive year, the Dynamo opened the season with a shutout victory. Owen Coyle became just the second coach to win a match in Houston club history.
- “I don’t think we could have asked for any more than what we got. I think there was really a lot of quality on the ball at times, I still think there’s room for improvement in that area,” said Coyle. “But there’s no doubt we scored a wonderful goal, a goal fit to any game. … The lads defended really well against a really good side – a side that in the second half of last season was probably as good as anybody in the league, made the playoffs. And they play very exciting. I thought the game was end-to-end, I think anyone that watched the game as a neutral watched a lovely game.”
- In his first match as the Dynamo No. 1 goalkeeper, Tyler Deric faced 18 total attempts at goal by the Crew. Deric had started the final nine games of the 2014 season in place of an injured Tally Hall, who then went to Orlando City SC in the offseason.
- “It’s not surprising because he’s a very good goalie,” said team captain Brad Davis. “I feel like this was a game we maybe wouldn’t have won last year. There’s a change in attitude, things like that, and the biggest and most important thing is that we won the game.”
- The Dynamo had just one newcomer to the squad in the opening day lineup – center back Raúl Rodríguez, who came to MLS after 4-1/2 seasons in Spain.
- “To be in a system where everybody’s kind of fresh and has that fresh start, it kick-starts you,” Dynamo captain Brad Davis said. “You have this opportunity and nothing’s guaranteed. Maybe last year no matter what happened, you were kind of guaranteed to play, and this year nothing’s necessarily guaranteed.
- Giles Barnes started off his season on the right foot with his first goal, after netting 11 goals in 2014. Barnes scored in three of the final four games of last season.
- “We’ve still got plenty of work in progress and there’s things we need to work on, but getting our foot on the ball is definitely something we need to do a little bit better job of. I think there were times where we just gave the ball away a little too soon,” Davis said.
- The game was the first with a wider field at BBVA Compass Stadium for the Dynamo. “We want to pass and move the ball around the park,” Coyle said. “[Widening the field] allows us to do that. As much as we’re very hard-working, the key to the game will be kicking the ball – utilize that and have composure on it to pass and move and work opponents.”
- Added forward Will Bruin: “Spacing’s going to be huge. Our wide guys, we want them to stay wide. If they all come central it just clogs up the middle. I think this widening of the field is good for us and it’ll make us better at home, but also on the road.”
