MLS Preview: Houston Dynamo vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC

THE BASICS
Houston Dynamo vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Saturday, July 23, 2016, 8:15 p.m. CT
BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, Texas

TICKETS AVAILABLE

BROADCAST INFORMATION
ROOT SPORTS Alternate - 8:00 p.m. (CHANNEL LISTINGS)
610 AM / Radio.com app- 8:00 p.m.
Univision Radio 1010 AM - 8:00 p.m.

PREVIEW
A pair of clubs in need of points for differing reasons meet in a Western Conference encounter when the Houston Dynamo play host to Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Saturday evening at BBVA Compass Stadium. The Dynamo sit at the foot of the conference standings, 11 points below the red line, returning home off of a 1-0 loss at the LA Galaxy last Friday evening. Whitecaps FC are right on the line, tied for fifth place in the division following their 2-2 home draw with Orlando City SC last Saturday at BC Place.

REFEREE: Jaime Herrera. AR1 (bench): Adam Garner; AR2 (opposite): Jonathan Johnson; 4th: Baldomero Toledo
MLS Career: 3 games; FC/gm: 28.7; Y/gm: 3.3; R: 1; pens: 1

INJURY REPORT, PRESENTED BY HOUSTON METHODIST (as of July 6)

HOUSTON DYNAMO—OUT: DaMarcus Beasley – left knee surgery; Tyler Deric – left abdominal strain; DOUBTFUL: Rob Lovejoy – right ankle sprain

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC—OUT: Christian Dean – right meniscus tear; Deybi Flores – right adductor strain; Kekuta Manneh – right foot surgery; Russell Teibert – right quad strain; QUESTIONABLE: Blas Pérez – left hamstring strain;

HEAD-TO-HEAD

• ALL-TIME (9 meetings): Dynamo 3 wins, 10 goals … Whitecaps FC 5 wins, 13 goals … Ties 1
• AT VANCOUVER (5 meetings): Dynamo 3 wins, 7 goals … Whitecaps FC 0 wins, 2 goals … Ties 0
• 2016 (MLS): 3/26: VAN 1, HOU 0 (Morales 23); 5/28: VAN 1, HOU 1 (Rivero 52 – Beasley 20)
• The teams are meeting for the third time this season. Houston’s DaMarcus Beasley scored in the first half but Vancouver’s Octavio Rivero scored after the break, leaving the teams in a 1-1 draw May 28 at BC Place. Pedro Morales converted a penalty kick in the 23rd minute, giving Whitecaps FC a 1-0 win March 26 at BC Place.
• The last meeting was the first time the home team did not win in the series. Whitecaps FC had won the first four meetings at BC Place; the Dynamo scored their first goal in Vancouver since 2014 in the last encounter. The ‘Caps also won the lone meeting at Empire Field.
• The Dynamo have won both meetings all-time at BBVA Compass Stadium, including a 2-0 win last Aug. 29, in their three home wins in the all-time series.
• Coaches record: Carl Robinson vs. HOU: P5 W3 L1 T1 … Wade Barrett vs. VAN: P1 W0 L0 T1

LAST MEETING

• The Dynamo jumped ahead in the 20th minute. Alex threaded a perfect ball to DaMarcus Beasley, who cut back on a sliding Tim Parker in the penalty area before lifting the ball into the net from eight yards out.
• Both teams were reduced to 10 men when Alex and Pedro Morales were given straight red cards by referee Drew Fischer for an altercation three minutes from halftime.
• Whitecaps FC leveled in the 52nd minute. Cristian Techera’s corner was flicked on and Octavio Rivero latched onto the ball following a slight deflection, sending a half-volley inside the right post to tie the match.
• VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC (4-4-1-1): David Ousted - Jordan Smith, Andrew Jacobson, Tim Parker, Jordan Harvey - Cristian Techera (Erik Hurtado 79), Matias Laba, Russell Teibert (Kianz Froese 90), Pedro Morales (ejected 42) - Kekuta Manneh (Nicolas Mezquida 90) - Octavio Rivero.
• HOUSTON DYNAMO (4-1-2-3): Tyler Deric - Sheanon Williams, David Horst, Raul Rodriguez, DaMarcus Beasley - Collen Warner - Ricardo Clark, Boniek Garcia (Leonel Miranda 73) - Andrew Wenger, Will Bruin (Mauro Manotas 61), Alex (ejected 42).

HOUSTON DYNAMO
The Houston Dynamo had their brief two-game undefeated run put to an end, falling 1-0 to the LA Galaxy on Friday evening at StubHub Center. The Dynamo are in 10th place in the Western Conference with 18 points from 19 games.

LAST GAME

• The Galaxy had a glorious chance to open the scoring early when Dynamo center back David Horst was adjudged to handled the ball in the area in the seventh minute. But Robbie Keane's attempt from the spot missed the goal entirely, sailing right of the target.
• The lone goal came in the 66th minute, when Robbie Keane broke in on a breakaway, but his shot attempt was blocked by Dynamo goalkeeper Joe Willis. The rebound fell to Steven Gerrard, who slotted home into an open net with Willis well off his line after making the initial stop.
• Brian Rowe was credited with making four saves in keeping the clean sheet for the Galaxy.
• Dynamo interim head coach Wade Barrett made three changes to the team that reached a scoreless draw with Orlando City SC at Camping World Stadium. Joe Willis came in between the posts in place of Tyler Deric, Sheanon Williams started at fullback for DaMarcus Beasley, and Andrew Wenger came into the team in place of Will Bruin.
• HOUSTON DYNAMO (4-1-4-1): Joe Willis - Sheanon Williams (Mauro Manotas 86), David Horst, Raul Rodriguez, Jalil Anibaba - Collen Warner - Andrew Wenger (Erick Torres 81), Ricardo Clark, Alex, Boniek Garcia (Cristian Maidana 62) - Giles Barnes.

TEAM NEWS

• The Dynamo completed their two-game road swing with a draw and a loss, following the defeat by the Galaxy. They have won once, with four draws, in the seven matches since Wade Barrett took over as interim head coach.
• The Dynamo are still winless away from home this season, now leading MLS with eight road losses. They are one of five teams in the league still without an away victory.
• The Dynamo were also shut out at the attacking end for a second consecutive match, now 180 minutes since scoring their last league goal. The Dynamo have been blanked in three of their last five games in MLS play.
• “I’ve been in charge since the Vancouver game. We’ve got some great results on the road. I don’t think there’s any kind of funk. I don’t think there’s any kind of results that happened at the beginning of the year that are affecting the group right now,” said Barrett. “This was a tough game. They’re one of the best teams at home. I thought we came in and went toe to toe.”
• Said Boniek Garcia: “The idea is to get out of last place but it's been difficult. We have to continue working hard and there are still plenty of games left for us to get points and move up the standings.”
• Joe Willis came back in between the posts, credited with making three saves, his first start in league play since May 15. Willis had one substitute appearance in between, coming on at halftime June 26 vs. Portland.
• Sheanon Williams came in at left back for his first start since May 28, as DaMarcus Beasley missed his first match after undergoing knee surgery.
• Giles Barnes started as the lone out-and-out striker in the Dynamo scheme, the first he’s started as a striker since April 30. Barnes had started as a wide attacker in his first two matches back after returning from international duty with Jamaica.
• “We haven’t scored as many goals, but we’ve just been a little bit off. A lot of people talked about it in this last week, but I thought we did a pretty good job,” said Barrett. “Of course I want to score more goals and I thought in this particular game that Giles Barnes up top and his threat in behind would cause some problems and every time we look to find them in behind their two centerbacks, he was the first one to it. So that was a good look for us. It brought us up the field quite a few times.”
• Andrew Wenger made his first start after coming off the substitutes’ bench in back-to-back games, coming into a wide midfield spot and playing 81 minutes.
• Erick Torres made his first league appearance since June 2, coming on as a substitute for the final nine minutes.
• “We’ve got creative players and when they join – Boniek Garcia is good when he gets into positions like that. Andrew Wenger has been good. [Cristian] Maidana is active when he gets in the game. So we were looking to trying to stretch the field in the game and I thought Giles did that. We couldn’t find the goal tonight, but like I said, this is a tough place to play on the road,” said Barrett.
• On Wednesday, the Dynamo were bounced out of the U.S. Open Cup following a 1-0 loss to FC Dallas in a quarterfinal match at BBVA Compass Stadium. Fabian Castillo scored the game’s lone goal in the final minute of regulation play to send FCD through to the final four.
• Here’s the Dynamo team: Joe Willis, Jalil Anibaba, Agus, Raul Rodriguez, Abdoulie Mansally (Will Bruin 89), Andrew Wenger (Boniek Garcia 68), Ricardo Clark, Collen Warner, Cristian Maidana, Giles Barnes (Alex 85), Mauro Manotas.