CHICAGO FIRE vs HOUSTON DYNAMO
TOYOTA PARK, Bridgeview, Ill.
June 5, 2009 (WEEK 12) / MLS Game #86
8 p.m. CT (KHOU/Informa)
It's a meeting of two of the class teams in MLS this season on Friday night at Toyota Park when the Chicago Fire entertain the Houston Dynamo. The Fire lead the Eastern Conference, having seen their 11-game unbeaten streak to open the season come to an end last Sunday against FC Dallas. The Dynamo have made a steady rise up the Western Conference table, now in second place in the division thanks to a seven-game unbeaten streak where they've allowed just two goals, having also scored three goals in each of their last two matches.
REFEREE: Ricardo Salazar. SAR (bench): Eric Boria; JAR (opposite): Peter Balciunas; 4th: Abbey Okulaja MLS Career: 87 games; FC/gm: 28.8; Y/gm: 3.6; R: 23; pens: 30
INJURY REPORT: CHICAGO FIRE - OUT: DF Daniel Woolard (R ankle sprain); DOUBTFUL: DF Wilman Conde (L shoulder sprain)
HOUSTON DYNAMO - OUT: DF Eddie Robinson (L knee surgery); QUESTIONABLE: MF Brian Mullan (L hamstring strain)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: CHI: Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Mexico; June 6 vs. El Salvador); Bakary Soumare (Mali; June 6 vs. Ghana); Gonzalo Segares (Costa Rica; June 6 vs. Trinidad & Tobago)
HOU: Brian Ching, Ricardo Clark (USA; June 6 vs. Honduras)
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: CHI: Bakary Soumare
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: CHI: Chris Rolfe, John Thorrington ... HOU: Ricardo Clark; Geoff Cameron
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME
(6 meetings): Fire 2 wins, 6 goals ... Dynamo 3 wins, 10 goals ... Ties 1
AT CHICAGO
(3 meetings): Fire 0 wins, 3 goals ... Dynamo 2 wins, 8 goals ... Ties 1
RETURN MATCH:
8/9: Chicago Fire at Houston Dynamo, 7:30 p.m. CT
LAST YEAR (MLS)
5/17: CHI 1, HOU 2 (Carr 28 - De Rosario 17; Boswell 82)
8/31: HOU 2, CHI 1 (De Rosario 7; Mullan 39 - McBride 6)
• The Dynamo have won the last three meetings between the clubs, dating back to a 4-0 triumph on July 12, 2007 at Robertson Stadium. The Dynamo won the season series a year ago, winning 2-1 at each ground.
• The Dynamo have come away with a result on each of their trips to Bridgeview. The teams played to a 2-2 draw in Houston's first visit to Toyota Park, Aug. 30, 2006, then have won their last two appearances at Toyota Park.
• The Fire had won on both of their trips to the Space City - winning 1-0 both on May 20, 2006 and April 29, 2007, before the Dynamo claimed the 2-1 victory in last year's series finale.
• Coaches record: Denis Hamlett v HOU: P2 W0 L2 D0 ... Dominic Kinnear vs. CHI: P11 W5 L4 D3
CHICAGO FIRE
The Chicago Fire became the final team in MLS to lose on the season, FC Dallas claiming a 3-0 victory on Sunday afternoon at Toyota Park. The Fire still lead the Eastern Conference, now with 21 points from 12 matches, five ahead of a three-way tie for second place in the division and still just three points behind MLS overall leader Chivas USA.
LAST MATCH
• The Fire had run their undefeated streak to 11 games on Thursday with a dramatic 3-2 win at Chivas USA, Cuauhtemoc Blanco sealing the win with his second penalty kick goal of the game, well into second-half stoppage time. FC Dallas had played to three draws in a row but were still looking for a first win since April 19.
• FCD took advantage of the Fire's heavy schedule by taking a 2-0 lead by halftime. In the 15th minute, Dave van den Bergh swung in a corner from the left and Jeff Cunningham got up to head home for his goal on the season. Then in the 35th minute, Dax McCarty floated in a freekick from the left flank and C.J. Brown tried to head clear, instead looping it over goalkeeper Jon Busch and into his own goal.
• The visitors put the game away in the 80th minute. Bakary Soumare pulled back substitute Brek Shea as he raced toward goal, and the Fire defender earned a second booking and immediate expulsion. From the resulting freekick some 22 yards from goal, Kenny Cooper masterfully curled the ball over the wall, off the underside of the crossbar and straight down over the line for his first goal since April 19.
• Fire head coach Denis Hamlett made four changes to the team that had come back to defeat Chivas USA 3-2 just three nights earlier. C.J. Brown and Brandon Prideaux came into the back four, with Justin Mapp returning to the midfield and Patrick Nyarko to the attack. Marco Pappa and Gonzalo Segares both went to the substitutes' bench, with Wilman Conde injured and Cuauhtémoc Blanco on international duty.
• Here's Hamlett's team (4-1-3-2): Jon Busch - Tim Ward, C.J. Brown (Marco Pappa 65), Bakary Soumare, Brandon Prideaux - Logan Pause - Chris Rolfe (Mike Banner 67), John Thorrington, Justin Mapp (Baggio Husidic 75) - Patrick Nyarko, Brian McBride. Substitutes Not Used: Stefan Dimitrov, Andrew Dykstra, Dasan Robinson, Gonzalo Segares
TEAM NEWS
• The Fire returned home after having put together a three-game winning streak all on the road over 12 days, in two different countries with a flight to the East Coast then to the West Coast and back home again.
• "This wasn't a 'trap' game. There's no secret that we had a long week with three games in a week and a cross country trip. Today, it caught up with us a little bit," Fire coach Denis Hamlett said. "... We just weren't sharp (Sunday), and is that a result of us playing three games? I don't know. But giving up the early mistakes we did it's especially tough to come back from that given what we've been through."
• The Fire had used just 13 different starters in their previous seven games, since April 18, before the game against FC Dallas. Then against FCD, Justin Mapp made his first start since April 11 while C.J. Brown made his first start since March 28. "It's asking a lot to put the same 11 players on the field three times in a week," Hamlett said.
• Wilman Conde missed the game with a shoulder sprain, and is still listed as doubtful for the Dynamo match. Add to that the World Cup qualifying callups for defenders Bakary Soumare (Mali) and Gonzalo Segares (Costa Rica) and the Fire will be without three-fourths of its starting back line. Only Tim Ward as right back is available for Friday.
• "Whoever it is, C.J. or Dasan [Robinson], whatever, we will be ready," Busch said. "We have a very deep bench, and we have guys that are chomping at the bit to get an opportunity. We are losing a couple of quality players, but we have quality players coming off the bench who are eager to prove their worth to this team."
• The Fire's 11-game undefeated streak to start the season was one game shy of the league record of 12, set by the LA Galaxy in 1996 (12-0 during the shootout era, with two draws at the end of 90 minutes) and the Kansas City Wizards in 2000 (10-0-2). The league record unbeaten streak is 19 games by the Columbus Crew.
• "We've never really made a big deal of our being unbeaten," said McBride. "We just wanted to get some points at home and it didn't happen."
HOUSTON DYNAMO
The league's hottest team, the Houston Dynamo, moved into second place in the Western Conference with an impressive victory, getting three goals in a six-minute span for a 3-0 win against Toronto FC on Saturday evening at Robertson Stadium. The Dynamo have 18 points from 10 games, six points behind leaders Chivas USA and now a point ahead of Seattle Sounders FC.
LAST MATCH
• Dwayne De Rosario was returning to south Texas for the first time since the offseason trade that took him to his hometown of Toronto, where TFC had risen into contention in the East. The Dynamo hadn't lost since April 4, conceding just two goals over their past six games.
• The home-standing Orange put the game away early, all from their bread-and-butter. In the 19th minute, from a free kick outside the right corner of the penalty kick, Brad Davis fired the ball under the TFC wall as it jumped in unison, and it flew inside the left post for his second goal.
• Three minutes later, Brian Ching swung in a low cross from the right flank and Kei Kamara turned it inside the back post with a side-foot volley.
• Then two minutes after that, on a freekick outside the box on the left, Davis rolled the ball back and Stuart Holden lashed a rising drive off the inside of the left post and into the goal. For Davis, it was his sixth consecutive game with an assist, two shy of the MLS record.
• Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear made one change to the team that defeated the San Jose Earthquakes 3-1 at home the week before. Corey Ashe came on the right of midfield with Brian Mullan suffering an injury.
• Here's Kinnear's team (4-3-1-2): Pat Onstad - Craig Waibel, Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron, Andrew Hainault - Corey Ashe (Chris Wondolowski 67), Ricardo Clark, Brad Davis - Stuart Holden - Brian Ching (Ade Akinbiyi 81), Kei Kamara (Dominic Oduro 89). Substitutes Not Used: Wade Barrett, Mike Chabala, Tally Hall, Richard Mulrooney
• "I'm really happy; everyone played well. It was nice to see Kei [Kamara] keep his scoring going and Brad [Davis] staying bold. Stuart [Holden] was excellent tonight with Ricardo [Clark]. It's also nice to see Dominic [Oduro] get some time with us and get some minutes with the team," Kinnear said. "All in all really, really pleased with the guys and their hard work. Their good play is paying dividends."
TEAM NEWS
• Over the past two seasons, the Dynamo have allowed an average of less than a goal per game, conceding just 55 goals in 60 league contests. They are once again holders of the league's best defensive record, with just seven goals allowed in 11 games, now with five shutouts in their last seven games.
• "The reason we win consistently is that our midfield is fantastic defensively," said defender Craig Waibel. "The way they pressure midfield and close space, it makes it easy to read where they're going to attack us and it makes the passing lanes predictable. The last 6-7 games, the midfield has done a great job of making it easy on the back line."
• The Dynamo had recorded four shutouts in a row and have the longest shutout streak in MLS this season at 491 minutes. But after allowing single goals to New York and San Jose, they wanted to again keep a clean sheet.
• "Last week was disappointing. I would rather win 2-0 and have a little bit of personal glory than give up a goal," said Waibel, who scored against San Jose. "We take a lot of pride in our shutout streaks. This week I can smile, because I did my job throughout the 90 minutes. I think everyone did."
• Brad Davis has now recorded an assist in six consecutive games, all seven of his helpers on the season. Six of the Dynamo's 14 goals this year have come off set pieces, with another five coming from crosses in open play; of Davis's assists, four have come on crosses and three on set pieces (two corners, one free kick). "It's good to get points and be involved but the way the team's been playing has been awesome as of late," Davis said.
• Brian Mullan suffered a hamstring injury in training during the week, which put Corey Ashe into the lineup. It was the first time this season the first-choice midfield quartet was broken up.
• "He brings you energy. He brings you pace," Kinnear said. "Whenever he got the ball, sometimes two guys were coming over to him, and it gave Craig (Waibel) some opportunities to swing some balls in. Defensively he's very honest and his pace makes you very aware of when he's on the ball and when he's off the ball."
• After having scored just three goals in their first four games, the Dynamo have scored 11 over the seven-game unbeaten run, including three goals in each of their last two games.
• "We are combining really well. We are doing a great job. The sequence in the second half where we held the ball for two or three minutes and the fans were going, "Olé, olé" gives you the chills, so you just keep the ball moving," Kamara said.
