FC DALLAS vs HOUSTON DYNAMO
PIZZA HUT PARK, Frisco, Texas
August 6, 2009 (WEEK 21) / MLS Game #143
7:30 p.m. CT (FSN-SW; KHOU/Informa)
In-state rivals coming off a pair of impressive victories last weekend meet for the third time this season when the Houston Dynamo make the trip north to take on FC Dallas. FCD comes off a record-setting attacking display, a 6-0 victory against the Kansas City Wizards led by four goals from Jeff Cunningham. The Dynamo exploded for a season-high four goals of their own in a 4-3 win against D.C. United. The Dynamo have won both previous meetings this year, once at each ground, to again take ownership of El Capitán, given to the winner of the season series.
REFEREE: Baldomero Toledo. SAR (bench): Eric Boria; JAR (opposite): James Conlee; 4th: Jasen Anno MLS Career: 79 games; FC/gm: 26.6; Y/gm: 4.0; R: 32; pens: 32
INJURY REPORT: FC DALLAS - OUT: MF Alvaro Sanchez (R ankle), D George John (L hamstring); DOUBTFUL: FW Peri Marosevic (R hip) ... HOUSTON DYNAMO - OUT: DF Eddie Robinson (L knee surgery); DF Richard Mulrooney (R knee surgery); DOUBTFUL: MF Brian Mullan (R ankle sprain); QUESTIONABLE: FW Kei Kamara (R quad strain)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: DAL: Pablo Ricchetti ... HOU: Ricardo Clark, Brad Davis
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: DAL: Atiba Harris, Andre Rocha, Marcelo Saragosa ... HOU: Mike Chabala
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (13 meetings): FC Dallas 1 win, 13 goals ... Dynamo 7 wins, 22 goals ... Ties 5
AT DALLAS (6 meetings): FC Dallas 1 win, 5 goals ... Dynamo 2 wins, 9 goals ... Ties 3
• FC Dallas have defeated Houston just once in league play in the three-year history of the rivalry - a 1-0 victory at Pizza Hut Park in their final meeting in 2006. Houston has won five of the nine league meetings since, with four draws. FCD did win the first leg of their Western Conference Semifinal Series in 2007.
• The Dynamo have not lost to FC Dallas at Robertson Stadium. The Dynamo have won five of the seven league games there, winning the first meeting this season after playing to a pair of draws in 2008. In addition, Houston claimed a 4-1 victory in extra-time in the Western Conference Semifinals in 2007.
• As well, the Dynamo claimed a 3-0 victory in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals in 2006 at home; that match was played at the Carl Lewis Track & Field Stadium at the University of Houston.
• The Lone Star State rivals are meeting for "El Capitan," as was named the 18th-century Mountain Howitzer cannon to be awarded to the winner of the season series - and the Dynamo have already clinched ownership again. The Dynamo won the trophy the first two years of its existence, with FC Dallas claiming it last year on away goals after the teams played to three draws in the season series. The rules were altered for the 2009 competition.
• Coaches record: Schellas Hyndman v HOU: P3 W0 L2 D1 ... Dominic Kinnear vs. DAL: P13 W7 L1 D5
THIS SEASON (MLS):
5/9: HOU 1, DAL 0 (Kamara 58)
6/13: DAL 1, HOU 3 (Moor 67 - Weaver 12, 63; Mulrooney 37)
• A tense initial meeting for El Capitan on May 9 at Robertson Stadium saw its lone goal 12 minutes after the second-half restart. Stuart Holden was freed down the left flank and floated a high cross into the area where Kei Kamara soared over a defender to head home his first goal on the season.
• Then on June 13, at Pizza Hut Park, the Dynamo ensured El Capitán would be returning to Houston following a 3-1 win.
• The Dynamo were up two goals by halftime. In the 13th minute, Andrew Hainault kept the play alive by tracking down a loose ball and getting it to Brian Mullan, who hammered a low cross into the goalmouth. Cam Weaver stormed in to bang it into the back of the net for his first goal since coming to Houston the week before.
• In the 37th minute, Houston doubled the lead. A corner kick was headed clear, but only as far as Richard Mulrooney some 25 yards straight out from goal, and veteran ripped a low drive inside the left post past an unsighted Ray Burse for his first goal of the season.
• Weaver completed his brace in the 63rd minute to put the game away, taking a short pass from Corey Ashe wide open in the area and slotting it home. FCD pulled a goal back four minutes later when Eric Avila put the ball back into the mixer from a cleared corner and Drew Moor's flick header found the inside of the post.
• Here's Hyndman's team (4-4-1-1): Ray Burse - Drew Moor, Kyle Davies, Pablo Ricchetti, Anthony Wallace (Eric Avila 62) - Jeff Cunningham (Brek Shea 46), Dax McCarty, Andre Rocha, Dave van den Bergh (Marcelo Saragosa 79) - David Ferreira - Kenny Cooper. Substitutes Not Used: Michael Dello-Russo, Josh Lambo, Peri Marosevic, Blake Wagner
• Here's Kinnear's team (4-3-1-2): Pat Onstad - Andrew Hainault, Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron, Wade Barrett - Brian Mullan (Brad Davis 84), Richard Mulrooney, Corey Ashe - Stuart Holden - Kei Kamara (Dominic Oduro 46), Cam Weaver (Ade Akinbiyi 81). Substitutes Not Used: Mike Chabala, Danny Cruz, Tally Hall, Craig Waibel
FC DALLAS
FC Dallas set a number of offensive club records, rolling to a 6-0 victory against the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday night at Pizza Hut Park. FCD has 20 points from 18 matches, still in seventh place in the Western Conference, 15 points in arrears of division leaders Houston Dynamo.
LAST MATCH
• FC Dallas were coming off back-to-back losses, including a heartbreaking loss to Real Salt Lake the week before after holding a two-goal halftime lead. The Wizards were winless in three in a row, but had reached draws in their previous two matches.
• FC Dallas had completed the transfer of leading Kenny Cooper to Germany's 1860 Munich the day before the match, but the club's new strike pairing of Cunningham and David Ferreira put aside that thought, combining for all six goals on the night.
• Cunningham put FCD in the lead in the 39th minute, getting on the end of a Atiba Harris cross from the right flank and tapping home from close range at the back post. For Cunningham, it was the 109th league goal of his career, moving him into third place in the all-time list ahead of RSL head coach Jason Kreis. Then Ferreira doubled the lead just three minutes later with a similar goal, knocking home a Brek Shea cross from the left.
• Cunningham hit for his second in the 66th minute, converting a penalty kick after he was taken down in the box by K.C. defender Rauwshan McKenzie. Then the Wizards were left in an even deeper hole two minutes later when referee Andrew Chapin sent off Claudio Lopez with a straight red card.
• Cunningham completed his hat trick in the 75th minute, volleying home a long cross from the left flank from Shea from close range. Then Ferreira intercepted a weak backpass and slotted it past Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman to make it 5-0 just three minutes later.
• Cunningham finished off the rout in the 89th minute, stealing a pass and putting a shot from the edge of the area that just slipped underneath Hartman. Cunningham became the ninth player to score four goals in a league game, one short of the MLS record.
• FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman made four changes to the team that lost 4-2 to Real Salt Lake on the road the weekend before. Kyle Davies and Daniel Torres came into the back four for the injured George John and the suspended Drew Moor, and Brek Shea came into the midfield for Andre Rocha. Dario Sala made his first start in goal since April 25, coming in for Ray Burse.
• Here's Hyndman's team (4-4-1-1): Dario Sala - Daniel Torres, Kyle Davies, Pablo Ricchetti, Jair Benitez (Blake Wagner 79) - Atiba Harris, Dax McCarty, Dave van den Bergh (Bruno Guarda 77), Brek Shea - David Ferreira (Eric Avila 82) - Jeff Cunningham. Substitutes Not Used: Ray Burse, Steve Purdy, Andre Rocha, Anthony Wallace
TEAM NEWS
• The margin of defeat was the largest in Dallas club history, surpassing a 5-0 whitewashing of Kansas City on July 10, 1999. The outburst also tied a club record for most goals in a game, set previously in a 6-3 win at Colorado on June 16, 2001. It was the second-biggest loss in Wizards history, after a 7-0 loss to Chicago in 2001.
• Cunningham's four goals came the day after Kenny Cooper's transfer to 1860 Munich in Germany was completed - and within 90 minutes he became the club's leading scorer.
• "I'm always under pressure," he said. "That's just the nature of the business for goal scorers. You play well this game and the next game if you don't, then you're back on the bench or in the doghouse. There's always pressure. I've just got to keep working. Hopefully my teammates continue supporting me and looking for me, then the goals will continue to come."
• A key component also appears to be Ferreira's deployment as an underneath forward, after a number of matches where was deeper in the midfield with Cooper or Cunningham playing as a lone striker.
• "It (our partnership) is something that has been progressing," Ferreira said. "The more we play together, the more we know about each other. I was extremely happy that Jeff scored four goals today. He deserves it. It makes my job easier when you have someone who can take advantage of that. He's extremely fast, a player that I'm very happy to be with. It's just going to get better."
• As well, there were significant changes in the midfield with Dave van den Bergh playing a central role and Atiba Harris and Brek Shea in wide roles.
• ""It was everything we hoped for: everything we wanted. I thought the boys played very well. They moved the ball well. ... We were getting through the center of the midfield a little too easily," said Hyndman. "Brek Shea did a really good job on the left side getting forward. Atiba Harris did a great job getting forward on the right side. That is something we have been talking about: getting some flank play. I thought we got it tonight."
• After conceding the own goal that provided the margin of victory against Real Salt Lake, Daniel Torres started at right back. Dario Sala also returned to the lineup for the first time since April 25, making just his third start of the season.
• "The thing that Dario brings, he just brings a little more of a soccer brain out there. He knows how to kill a game and he can give instruction," Hyndman said. "We're a different team with Dario. He made a difference. They didn't have a lot of chances but when he was called on, he did everything he was asked."
HOUSTON DYNAMO
The Houston Dynamo equaled their season-high by allowing three goals - but scored a season-high four goals, defeating D.C. United 4-3 on Saturday evening at Robertson Stadium. The Dynamo still lead the Western Conference and MLS overall table with 35 points from 20 matches, now six points ahead of Seattle and still two points ahead of Eastern Conference-leading Columbus.
LAST MATCH
• The Dynamo were at home for a second consecutive week after four league games away from home, winless in their last three games. United were unbeaten in three, but had just one win in their last five MLS games.
• The game burst into life just after the half-hour mark, when the Dynamo exploded for three goals in three minutes, one minute shy of the league record. In the 36th minute, Brad Davis took a pass beyond the left corner of the area and lashed home a drive inside the far post as goalkeeper Josh Wicks was left flat-footed.
• The Dynamo made it 2-0 in the 38th minute as Brian Ching raced unmolested into the box and ripped a rising blast into the roof of the net inside the near post. Then Ching made it 3-0 less than a minute later, hooking a pullback from Mike Chabala from the endline inside the far post.
• United began their fightback in the 49th minute as Bryan Namoff caught out the Dynamo defense with a quickly taken freekick that Luciano Emilio latched onto in the area, firing a deflected shot over goalkeeper Pat Onstad. But Stuart Holden restored the margin in the 65th minute from the penalty spot after Dejan Jakovic bundled over Dominic Oduro.
• Yet United came back again in the 74th minute as Fred cut inside from the left flank and hammered a low drive from well outside the area that found the back of the net for his second goal on the season. Emilio hit for a second in the 87th minute, finally able to head home a Marc Burch putback from a corner kick after Onstad had first saved an Emilio backheel, but United could get no closer.
• Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear made three changes to the team that lost 1-0 to the New England Revolution at home the weekend before. Brian Ching and Stuart Holden returned from international duty, replacing Corey Ashe and Kei Kamara, and Mike Chabala came in for Craig Waibel in the back four.
• Here's Kinnear's team (4-3-1-2): Pat Onstad - Andrew Hainault (Craig Waibel 83), Bobby Boswell, Julius James, Mike Chabala - Geoff Cameron, Ricardo Clark, Brad Davis (Corey Ashe 64) - Stuart Holden - Brian Ching (Ade Akinbiyi 79), Dominic Oduro. Substitutes Not Used: Wade Barrett, Danny Cruz, Tally Hall, Erik Ustruck
• "Very happy with the win, we played some very good attacking soccer. It took us a little while to get going, first 20 minutes or so, but after than we had some really, really nice stuff," said Kinnear. "Even in the second half, we were still attacking well, but maybe we were a little loose defensively. Therefore, they crept back in the game, and unfortunately it should not have happened that way."
TEAM NEWS
• Brian Ching and Stuart Holden were back in the lineup for the Dynamo for the first time since June 28, missing four matches while on CONCACAF Gold Cup duty with the USA, a stretch in which the Dynamo went 1-2-1. Ching scored for the seventh time in 11 matches.
• "We really didn't have a whole lot of time to practice, as a unit, this week, and Stuart and I were just really happy to be back," said Ching. "Our goal was to come back and provide a good boost for the team, and I think we did."
• It was the third time in MLS history a team had scored three goals within three minutes. The MLS record is three goals within two minutes, performed by D.C. United in a 4-2 win against New England on July 27, 2003 - when all three goals came in second-half stoppage time (Quintanilla 91+; Kovalenko 93+; Eskandarian 93+).
• "The first goal for me was a bit of a stunner; I think it kind of stunned everybody," said Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear. "But the third goal for me was probably the best goal of the night. We were encouraging Mike (Chabala) to get forward on every opportunity because of the way they were set up. For Brian to play them through and then to keep moving and Chewie's first touch was excellent. It was an excellent piece of football."
• If there was a downside it was the three goals conceded by the Dynamo, two in the final 16 minutes. It was the second time the Orange have allowed three goals this season (last in a 3-2 loss to San Jose on March 28), and dropped Houston to third in the MLS team defense rankings.
• "I think we were a little bit sloppy in the second half, and we gave up some pretty easy goals," said Holden. "I am a culprit as well as I gave away the ball pretty cheaply (on Fred's goal in the 74th minute) and they went down in scored. I am not happy on that end, but we can take a lot of pride in the fact that we won the game and that we are still on top in the West."
• Holden's goal from the penalty spot came on his 24th birthday with his mother, brother and sister all in attendance.
• "I think Brian being the captain, and him being on two goals, it was his decision. He asked me if I wanted to take it and I said absolutely. I don't shy away from those opportunities, especially with a chance to get on the scoreboard and help the team win," said Holden. "My brother flew in for the game, and it's always great to have my favorite people in the world here. My family is the most important thing in my life to me. It was a good night."
