HOUSTON – It’s been Bradley Wright-Phillips’ world in MLS this season. The English forward has tallied 24 times and has been one of the reasons for the New York Red Bulls sticking in the playoff picture.
And in a must-win game, the Houston Dynamo know they’ll have to put the clamps on him if they want to make their own bid for the postseason.
Houston are five points back of the fifth-place Red Bulls, who currently occupy the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Heading to Red Bull Arena on Saturday (6 pm ET; NBCSN), the Dynamo are looking to limit space for Wright-Phillips and his teammates.
“He’s a natural goalscorer. I’ve known Bradley 10 years now and he’s always scored goals since we were kids; he knows where the net is,” said fellow Englishman Giles Barnes. “People underestimate how good he is actually getting you up, facing you and finding areas to shoot. I think a lot of his goals are getting in the box and that’s what strikers do.”
After struggling to establish himself in England, Barnes' move to MLS in 2013 helped pave the way for Wright-Phillips to challenge for the MLS single-season scoring record this year. In the same vein, Barnes has found a home not only with the Dynamo, but at forward where he’s gone through a successful transition scoring 17 goals in two seasons.
Barnes’ countryman has been a tormenter of Houston’s since coming to MLS, however. He’s scored six goals and provided an assist in four regular season games versus Houston, all New York wins.
Why’s he been so successful against Houston? Part of it is the Dynamo defense's inability to limit space and gaps for him to exploit.
“You have to stay tight to him, stay focused on him,” Barnes offered. “You have to be aware of him, he’s a bit like [Chris] Wondolowski, and you have to be aware of him at all times.”
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Quelling the Red Bull threat up top would help tremendously, as Houston looks to reverse their regular season fortunes at Red Bull Arena. They pulled off a big win in last season’s Eastern Conference semifinals but have never won a regular season game in New York (0-7-3) and have lost their last four regular season games there dating back to 2012.
“We know the stakes are high in this game,” said head coach Dominic Kinnear. “To get to the places we want to go we’ve got to go to tough places and win.”
Darrell Lovell covers the Houston Dynamo for MLSsoccer.com.
