It's no secret that Houston Dynamo have been a thorn in the side of Western Conference-leading FC Dallas for the entire season. With a 2-0-1 mark against their in-state rivals in league play -- and a 3-0 win last month in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup -- Dynamo has owned the Hoops so far this season.
With the sides meeting at Pizza Hut Park on Saturday, Houston looks to extend that streak and inch closer to FCD in the West standings. Dynamo head into Saturday's match six points behind the Hoops and looking to close that gap with another win against them.
"The results have gone our way against them," said Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear. "The guys see the challenge that Dallas has with a lot of offensive weapons. We know we have to respect them. They've done well throughout the season. They're six points ahead of us right now and where we want to be. The only way we can do that is to win games, especially the head-to-head ones against them."
Dynamo comes off a 2-2 draw at Chicago on Wednesday where they looked ready to leave the Windy City with three points before a another late penalty kick was converted by the Fire in the 75th minute.
FCD snapped a three-game losing streak that saw them go scoreless for nearly 300 minutes with a 2-0 win at Colorado, also on Wednesday.
Houston all-star midfielder Dwayne De Rosario echoes his coach's sentiments about wanting to close the gap with FC Dallas by winning on Saturday.
"It will be a good opportunity to gain some points," he said. "They're still a good team and we need to be mindful of that, play our game and do what we've done in the past to have success against them. We need to play the ball, use the flanks and finish our chances."
Still missing from the Houston starting 11 will be All-Star forward Brian Ching, who is still out recuperating from a right lateral meniscus tear in his right knee. He had surgery on August 16 and was slated to miss three weeks of action.
In his absence, Dynamo has gone 0-2-1 but in at least two of those games, controversial calls were all that stood between them and the win column. Still, Kinnear has been pleased with how his team has performed without their leading scorer in the lineup.
"We've competed in every game, which I expected," he said. "Alejandro (Moreno), Julian (Nash) and whoever else has gone out there has put in a great shift, which is all you can ask from those guys. We've created chances and goals are coming from a lot of places."
DeRosario has noticed the games with FCD getting more heated, a product of an emerging rivalry between the Texas sides.
"I think this new rivalry is starting to build and has some more bite to it," he said. "Usually those games are one-goal games. I think there is that much more at stake, especially coming into the playoffs with every team wanting to catch their groove for the playoffs."
Kinnear, whose San Jose team won the 2005 Supporters' Shield, knows his squad is far from out of the West race.
"We're still in the hunt," he said. "We're in second place in our conference, which means we're catching up. Tomorrow is a good day for us to get more points and hopefully put some pressure on Dallas because they open up a six-game gap again on us."
For De Rosario, with or without Ching in the lineup, Houston's formula for success this season has been a pretty basic one.
"Guys work hard and that's how we get good results," he said. "Everyone works well with each other. Everyone likes playing with each other and being here. We have a good environment and get results that way."
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
