THE BASICS
Houston Dynamo vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Saturday, August 29, 8:00 p.m. CT
BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, Texas
BROADCAST INFORMATION
ROOT SPORTS Southwest (Alternate Channel) - 8:00 p.m. CHANNEL LISTINGS
Yahoo Sports Radio 1560 AM - 8:00 p.m. (7:30 p.m. pregame)
La Ranchera 850 AM / 101.7 FM - 8:00 p.m. (7:30 p.m. pregame)
Sirius XM FC (channel 85) - 8:00 p.m.
PREVIEW
A critical match in the chase for playoff placings in the Western Conference is ahead when the Houston Dynamo entertain Vancouver Whitecaps FC at BBVA Compass Stadium on Saturday evening. The Dynamo return home off a three-game winless road swing, ending with a 2-1 defeat at the Colorado Rapids at midweek, and are now three points out of the final playoff position in the West. Whitecaps FC sit a point off the top spot in the division after their 1-0 home win vs. FC Dallas last weekend, also claiming the club’s first honor in MLS with a Canadian Championship over the Montréal Impact at midweek.
REFEREE: Kevin Stott. AR1 (bench): Adam Wienckowski; AR2 (opposite): Cameron Blanchard; 4th: Mark Kadlecik
MLS Career: 271 games; FC/gm: 25.5; Y/gm: 3.3; R: 67; pens: 70
INJURY REPORT, PRESENTED BY HOUSTON METHODIST (as of Thursday, August 27)
HOUSTON DYNAMO – OUT: Jermaine Taylor – Right quad tear; QUESTIONABLE: DaMarcus Beasley – Left calf strain; PROBABLE: Raúl Rodríguez – Right heel contusion; Kofi Sarkodie – Right knee bone bruise; Giles Barnes – Right Achilles tendonitis;
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC – OUT: Ben McKendry – Left knee surgery; PROBABLE: Pa-Modou Kah – facial fracture; Nicolás Mezquida – Left hamstring strain
HEAD-TO-HEAD
- ALL-TIME (5 meetings): Dynamo 2 wins, 7 goals … Whitecaps FC 3 wins, 8 goals … Ties 0
- AT HOUSTON (2 meetings): Dynamo 2 wins, 5 goals … Whitecaps FC 0 wins, 2 goals … Ties 0
- RETURN MATCHES: 10/25: Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Houston Dynamo, tbd
- In five meetings all-time between the clubs, the home team has won each. Whitecaps FC won the last meeting between the clubs, a 2-1 win March 29, 2014 at BC Place, their third home win in the series.
- The Dynamo won the last meeting at BBVA Compass Stadium, a 2-1 win March 23, 2013.
- Coaches record: Carl Robinson vs. HOU: P1 W1 L0 D0 … Owen Coyle vs. VAN: first game
HOUSTON DYNAMO
The Houston Dynamo completed their three-game road trip winless, falling 2-1 to the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday evening at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. The Dynamo are in a tie for eighth place in the Western Conference with 32 points from 26 matches.
LAST MATCH
- The Rapids took the lead in the 20th minute. Dynamo defender Alex was ruled to have handled the ball on a challenge on Vicente Sanchez, and referee Drew Fischer pointed to the spot. Sanchez buried his own penalty kick to the right of goalkeeper Tyler Deric.
- The equalizer came in the 35th minute as the Rapids returned the favor when a handball was called on Bobby Burling in the Colorado penalty area. Brad Davis struck the resulting spot kick right down the middle to level the score.
- The game-winner came 10 minutes from the end. Sean St. Ledger was able to get to a Dillon Serna ball just before it crossed the endline and pulled back a pass into the goalmouth, where Kevin Doyle leaped over a defender to head the ball home.
- Dynamo head coach Owen Coyle made two changes to the team that reaching a 2-2 draw with the Portland Timbers at Providence Park. Nathan Sturgis and Giles Barnes came into the team, replacing Kofi Sarkodie and Rasheed Olabiyi.
- HOUSTON DYNAMO (4-4-1-1): Tyler Deric - Sheanon Williams, David Horst, A.J. Cochran, Alex - Boniek Garcia (Leonel Miranda 61), Luis Garrido, Nathan Sturgis, Brad Davis - Giles Barnes (Erick Torres 78) - Will Bruin (Mauro Manotas 70).
TEAM NEWS
- The Dynamo concluded their three-game road swing with a draw and two losses. Their three-game winless run is one short of the season-long of four games, achieved twice in the opening two months of the season.
- “We always knew it was going to be a tough period, particularly two of the games. We certainly felt that we could go to each game and look to get four or five points from three games, as it is we’ve got one. We have to now go and capitalize on our home form which has been great,” said Dynamo head coach Owen Coyle. “Obviously it would be nice if we get one or two healthy bodies back because obviously Ricardo Clark, Raul Rodriguez, DaMarcus Beasley, Kofi Sarkodie, Jermaine Taylor have all missed out.”
- Said goalkeeper Tyler Deric: “I think the first 20 minutes, we weren’t at our best, and after that, with being down 1-0 I thought we put our best foot forward and gave them a good contest. But I think overall in the match, we didn’t play good enough to get a result, and it was justified.”
- The Dynamo are winless in their last five away matches. They return home for back-to-back home games with the Vancouver visit, with five of their seven games at BBVA Compass Stadium; they are undefeated in their last five home games.
- “That was our 11th of 16 games on the road and we wanted to leave with a positive result and we had an opportunity to do that,” said Coyle. “It’s disappointing, there’s no getting away from that. We will have to take our medicine, we will have to pick ourselves up quickly for Saturday and get ready to go again.”
- Said Giles Barnes: It’s always nice to go home. I think it’s been 11 games we’ve had on the road out of the last 16, it’s a lot. Sometimes two, three months on the road, so to come out of that and have all those home games to look forward to is a positive.”
- Brad Davis scored his second goal of the season, both coming in the last six matches, after netting his first on July 25 vs. the LA Galaxy. Davis has a goal and/or an assist in two consecutive games; he has a goal and three assists over the last six contests.
- The Davis goal was the first scored from the penalty spot this season by the Dynamo. Giles Barnes (5/5 vs. San Jose) and Boniek Garcia (5/10 vs. Toronto FC) missed penalties in back-to-back games earlier.
- After seven consecutive starts in a wide midfield role, Alex moved back to left back and played the full 90 minutes, as DaMarcus Beasley missed a second consecutive game through injury.
- “I think it’s fair to say we had a makeshift defense. Alex stepped in to play at left back for us, with that being said, it would be nice to get one or two back.,” said Coyle. “With what we’ve got, we will be ready to go against Vancouver on Saturday and then the whole picture changes again. … Alex stuck to his task and he’s come out with certainly credit in my mind. But again, it would be nice to get the pieces of the jigsaw that started for us, but as it is, we will wait and see what happens for Saturday.”
