THE BASICS
Houston Dynamo vs. San Jose Earthquakes
Tuesday, May 5, 7:30 p.m. CT
BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, Texas
BROADCAST INFORMATION
ROOT SPORTS Alternate - 7:30 p.m. (7 p.m. pregame) CHANNEL LISTINGS
Yahoo Sports Radio 1560 AM - 7:30 p.m. (7 p.m. pregame)
La Ranchera 850 AM / 101.7 FM - 7:30 p.m. (7 p.m. pregame)
PREVIEW
Back together again in the Western Conference, two clubs that share quite a bit meet when the Houston Dynamo play host to the San Jose Earthquakes on Tuesday evening at BBVA Compass Stadium. The two clubs share their beginnings – and this year Dominic Kinnear, the only coach the Dynamo had known, moved to take the reins of the Earthquakes. The teams are tied for sixth place in the West, the Dynamo coming off a 4-1 home loss to FC Dallas last Friday, and the Quakes reaching a 1-1 draw at Real Salt Lake, also on Friday.
REFEREE: Ricardo Salazar. AR1 (bench): Charles Morgante; AR2 (opposite): Mark Cahen; 4th: Ismail Elfath
MLS Career: 199 games; FC/gm: 26.7; Y/gm: 3.4; R: 58; pens: 68
INJURY REPORT, PRESENTED BY HOUSTON METHODIST (as of Sunday, May 3)
HOUSTON DYNAMO – OUT: Nathan Sturgis – Right shoulder dislocation
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES – OUT: Innocent – Left knee; Shaun Francis – facial fracture; – Steven Lenhart – Right knee arthroscopy; Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi – Left ankle; Mark Sherrod – Left knee arthroscopy
HEAD-TO-HEAD
- ALL-TIME (12 meetings): Dynamo 6 wins, 16 goals … Earthquakes 5 wins, 16 goals … Ties 1
- AT HOUSTON (5 meetings): Dynamo 4 wins, 10 goals … Earthquakes 1 win, 5 goals … Ties 0
- RETURN MATCHES: 7/10: San Jose Earthquakes vs. Houston Dynamo, 8 p.m. PT (UniMas); 8/8: Houston Dynamo vs. San Jose Earthquakes, 7 p.m. CT
- The Earthquakes won the lone meeting between the clubs a year ago, a 3-0 victory at Buck Shaw Stadium which was their first victory in the series since 2011. The Dynamo had won three consecutive meetings with the Quakes, including the only matchup ever at BBVA Compass Stadium, in 2013.
- 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. The Dynamo have won six meetings between the teams, the Quakes five, with one draw.
- This will be the first meeting for Quakes head coach Dominic Kinnear against his former club, where he held the reins from the start of the club’s history in 2008 until this season.
- 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: first game … Owen Coyle vs. SJ: first game
HOUSTON DYNAMO
The Houston Dynamo had their undefeated streak put to an end after three games, FC Dallas strolling to a 4-1 win Friday evening at BBVA Compass Stadium. The Dynamo are in a tie for sixth place in the Western Conference with 10 points from 9 matches.
LAST MATCH
- FC Dallas took the lead after just nine minutes. Pushing their attack up the left side, FCD midfielder Ryan Hollingshead cut across unimpeded and fired from 19 yards out to put the visitors into the lead.
- The visitors doubled the lead 12 minutes later. From a turnover, Mauro Diaz pushed the ball upfield, releasing Fabian Castillo down the right flank. He pushed into the penalty area then cut the ball back between two defenders to a waiting David Texeira, who hit a first-touch shot inside the far post.
- The Dynamo pulled a goal back in the 32nd minute. After Alexander Lopez earned a free kick 22 yards away from goal, Giles Barnes took a short run up and hit a free kick which curled into the upper corner, as FCD goalkeeper Dan Kennedy could only manage to deflect the ball into the side netting.
- The lead was restored seven minutes after the second-half restart when Diaz cut through Houston’s defense before stinging a shot from the top of the box into the back of the net for a 3-1 margin.
- Three minutes later, FCD finished off the match on yet another quick combination, moving the ball up the field with four passes before Castillo capped it by toe-poking a shot just inside the far right post.
- Dynamo head coach Owen Coyle made no changes to the team that reached a 4-4 draw with Sporting Kansas City at BBVA Compass Stadium.
- HOUSTON DYNAMO (4-4-1-1): Tyler Deric - Kofi Sarkodie, Raul Rodriguez, Jermaine Taylor, DaMarcus Beasley - Alexander Lopez (Boniek Garcia 56), Ricardo Clark, Nathan Sturgis (Luis Garrido 61), Brad Davis - Giles Barnes - Will Bruin (Rob Lovejoy 67).
TEAM NEWS
- While the Dynamo suffered their first loss since April 4 – a span of three games – they saw their winless run extended to three matches with the defeat to FC Dallas.
- It was the second consecutive match the Dynamo conceded four goals – the first time in club history they’ve allowed that many goals in back-to-back games. The Dynamo had allowed just four goals total in their first seven games, before allowed the four goals in each of the next two.
- “At this level of the game there is no way we can defend the way we did in this game,” Dynamo head coach Owen Coyle said. “I think we’ve got to hold our hands up and recognize that we didn’t do well enough individually and collectively. When all’s said and done, I’m the head coach and I’ll take responsibility for that. With the players we’ve got I think we can defend better than we did in the instances that we did.”
- Said Brad Davis: “I think it’s a little bit of attitude, a little bit of grit. Little bit of playing, in my opinion, with a chip our shoulder, a little pissed off. We can’t be afraid to foul guys. This is a man’s game. It really is. It’s tough. The past two games we’ve let in eight goals. That’s unacceptable for us.”
- Giles Barnes scored his third goal in the last two matches with his free kick strike before halftime; he now has five goals for the season, tied for second place in the MLS Golden Boot standings.
- Barnes played for a second match as an underneath forward with Will Bruin as the spearhead in attack. The first seven matches of the season Coyle had run out his team with just one out-and-out striker.
- Dynamo head coach Owen Coyle was able to keep his team intact from the Sporting KC draw after the Independent Review Panel rescinded the red card and one-game suspension issued to center back Jermaine Taylor in that match.
- “I just think it was a lack of thinking. We weren’t very smart,” said defender DaMarcus Beasley. “We were all over the place. We need to be more organized for teams that like to play football.”
- Boniek Garcia made his first appearance in the last three matches after injury, coming off the substitutes’ bench for the final half-hour in place of Alexander Lopez.
