TORONTO FC vs HOUSTON DYNAMO
BMO FIELD, Toronto, Ont.
Oct. 8, 2014 (WEEK 31, MLS Game #294)
7:30 p.m. ET (TSN; CSN-Hou)

Two teams needing wins if they are to stay alive in the chase for places in the MLS Cup Playoffs meet when Toronto FC play host to the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday evening at BMO Field. TFC come into the match in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, three points below the red line and the final playoff position, following their 3-0 loss at the LA Galaxy last weekend. The Dynamo are four points further back, following their 1-0 loss at the New York Red Bulls to start their two-game road swing.

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REFEREE: Armando Villarreal. AR1 (bench): Craig Lowry; AR2 (opposite): Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho; 4th: Silviu Petrescu
MLS Career: 43 games; FC/gm: 23.0; Y/gm: 2.8; R: 15; pens: 10

SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: TOR: Michael Bradley … HOU: Ricardo Clark, Boniek Garcia, Kofi Sarkodie
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: TOR: Steven Caldwell, Jackson, Dominic Oduro, Warren Creavalle, Justin Morrow, Collen Warner, Gilberto … HOU: Will Bruin, Giles Barnes, David Horst
DISABLED LIST: none
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: TOR: Quillan Roberts, Doneil Henry, Kyle Bekker, Manuel Aparicio (Canada, vs. Colombia, Oct. 14) … HOU: Boniek García, Luis Garrido (Honduras, vs. Mexico, Oct. 9; vs. USA, Oct. 14); Jermaine Taylor (Jamaica, vs. Japan, Oct. 10)

HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (17 meetings): Toronto FC 4 wins, 20 goals … Dynamo 4 wins, 24 goals …Ties 9
AT TORONTO (8 meetings): Toronto FC 3 wins, 11 goals … Dynamo 1 win, 9 goals … Ties 4

2014 (MLS)
7/12: TOR 4, HOU 2 (Osorio 39; Oduro 46+; Defoe 63, 89 – Davis 13, 30)
7/19: HOU 2, TOR 2 (Bruin 11; Barnes 26 – Gilberto 18; Oduro 47+)

• The teams are meeting for the third time this season, after playing in a home-and-home series over two weekends July 12-19. Jermain Defoe scored twice in the second half as TFC came back from a two-goal deficit for a 4-2 victory at BMO Field in the first match; Brad Davis scored twice for the Dynamo in the return match, but the teams settled for a 2-2 draw at BBVA Compass Stadium.
• The teams have played to draws in four of their last five meetings, including the first encounter this year at BMO Field. TFC has come away from Houston with points on each of their last four visits, though they have not won there since 2010.
• Coaches record: Greg Vanney vs. HOU: first game … Dominic Kinnear vs. TOR: P17 W4 L4 D9

LAST MEETING

• The Dynamo took advantage of a gaffe to take an 11th-minute lead. Defender Bradley Orr hit an errant pass intended for goalkeeper Joe Bendik, and Dynamo striker Will Bruin pounced on the mistake and beat Bendik to the ball, slotting home the opener into an empty goal.
• But TFC drew level seven minutes later. Finding himself in space 10 yards from goal, Gilberto had time to take a heavy touch and fire past Dynamo 'keeper Tally Hall for the equalizer.
• The home side were back in front just eight minutes later. Ricardo Clark played Giles Barnes into space, and he was allowed to take his time and strike a low, 25-yard rolling shot that beat Bendik to his left.
• Toronto FC had a glorious chance to again equalize in the 28th minute when Corey Ashe hauled down Luke Moore in the area for a penalty and referee Juan Guzman pointed to the spot. But Michael Bradley clanged his spot kick off the post.
• But the leveler did come in first-half stoppage time. Luke Moore worked his way past a defender and put in a cross that eluded goalkeeper Hall for Dominic Oduro to bundle home at the back post.
• HOUSTON DYNAMO (4-4-2): Tally Hall - Kofi Sarkodie, David Horst, Eric Brunner (A.J. Cochran 4), Corey Ashe - Boniek Garcia, Ricardo Clark (Andrew Driver 69), Warren Creavalle, Brad Davis - Giles Barnes, Will Bruin.
• TORONTO FC (4-4-2): Joseph Bendik - Nick Hagglund, Bradley Orr, Doneil Henry, Justin Morrow - Dominic Oduro, Collen Warner, Michael Bradley, Jonathan Osorio (Daniel Lovitz 70) - Gilberto (Jermain Defoe 63), Luke Moore (Dwayne De Rosario 80).

TORONTO FC

Toronto FC saw their winning streak come to an end after two games, falling 3-0 to the LA Galaxy on Saturday evening at StubHub Center. TFC sit in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, with 40 points from 30 matches.

LAST MATCH

• The Galaxy took the lead as Keane hit for goals in the 22nd and 25th minutes. The first completed a superb passing sequence, with Marcelo Sarvas playing a give-and-go above Toronto's box with Baggio Husidic, then splitting two defenders with a sharp pass to the center of the box for Keane, who eluded his man and fired to the right side of the net.
• Keane then made it 2-0 after Landon Donovan played a diagonal through ball to the right flank for A.J. DeLaGarza, who turned and tumbled as he chipped it back toward the top of the box. A completely unmarked Keane had time to measure the cross and volley it into the netting inside the right post.
• The scoreline was complete deep in second-half stoppage time when Alan Gordon collected a ball from Sarvas in the midfield, carried forward and then unleashed a blast from well outside the penalty area that beat goalkeeper Joe Bendik inside his right post.
• TFC head coach Greg Vanney made two changes to the team that came back for a late 3-2 win against the Portland Timbers at BMO Field. Warren Creavalle and Kyle Bekker came into the team, in place of Mark Bloom and Gilberto.
• TORONTO FC (4-4-2): Joseph Bendik - Warren Creavalle, Steven Caldwell, Nick Hagglund, Justin Morrow - Jonathan Osorio, Kyle Bekker (Collen Warner 80), Michael Bradley, Daniel Lovitz (Jermain Defoe 60) - Dominic Oduro, Luke Moore (Dwayne De Rosario 75).

TEAM NEWS

• TFC had their road winless streak extended to four matches with the defeat at LA. Of their four games remaining on the regular season, two are at BMO Field and two on the road (at New York and at New England).
• “We’ve set a target for nine,” Vanney said. “I don’t know if we’ll need nine, that’s going to depend on what the other results look like but for us, we’re going to set a target, win our home games and go on the road and pick up a win. We’re a solid road team and everybody’s getting healthy so we think at nine, we assure ourselves in. Our primary focus needs to be on getting our Eastern Conference victories.”
• Toronto FC were also shut out at the attacking end for the first time in four games, after back-to-back three-goal performances, the most goals they had scored in consecutive league games this season.
• “I do think with the results we picked up in the last couple few games that we were able to turn this game into something that wasn’t a must-win,” TFC head coach Greg Vanney said. “We had the game in hand and we looked at this game as that game in hand where we had to come out and play a Western Conference team that was clearly in form. So there was a lot of things to build on.”
• Dominic Oduro moved into a striker’s role after making his previous start as a wide midfielder, coming in up top as Gilberto was dropped following four consecutive matches.
• Warren Creavalle started for the first time since Sept. 13, coming in for Mark Bloom in the back four, while Kyle Bekker also returned to the starting lineup for the first time since Sept. 13.
• “The first 10 minutes of the game I thought we were well organized, they were having difficulty getting in between us. But it was a little different set up the second half. The second half we were much more aggressive, we were in a little different shape both defensively and offensively and we were stepping out of our lines quicker to and press them a little bit higher,” Vanney said. “I actually thought through large stretches of the second half we dictated the game a little bit. We were controlling it. ... That was good, so I’m unhappy with the second half. We knew there were going to be challenges when we came.”
• Jermain Defoe made his first appearance since Aug. 23, coming on as a substitute for the final half-hour.
• “It was exactly what he needed and what we needed,” Vanney said. “Ultimately he needed to get back on the field, catch the speed of the game and get some touches with pressure in a match situation. There was really no expectation that he was going to come into the match and save the day or anything like that. I think he was able to do that. He looked to hit some shots, which means he’s not timid at all to unleash shots with the groin injury that he had.”
• Said Defoe: “It felt good, no problems, and no soreness. It felt good to be back and get back on the pitch. Obviously it would’ve been better if we got a better result. But no pressure now, I feel good. ... I feel if I am going to take some positives out of the game, it’s probably the way we moved the ball the second half. But there are some big games coming up, and we need to all stick together.”

HOUSTON DYNAMO

The Houston Dynamo saw their undefeated streak come to an end after five games, falling 1-0 to the New York Red Bulls on Saturday evening at Red Bull Arena. The Dynamo are in eighth place in the Eastern Conference with 36 points from 30 games.

LAST MATCH

• The game's lone goal came the 47th minute. Lloyd Sam raced down the right flank and unleashed a low cross that Dynamo goalkeeper Tyler Deric got a hand to, but the ball still continued across the face of goal. It dropped right into the path of Thierry Henry, and he had an easy tap-in finish into the empty goal.
• The Red Bulls finished the game a man down when Tim Cahill – just three minutes after coming on as an 85th-minute substitute, was sent off by referee Jair Marrufo for delivering a rough tackle on Dynamo winger Boniek Garcia.
• Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear made no changes to the team that defeated the Chicago Fire 2-0 at BBVA Compass Stadium.
• HOUSTON DYNAMO (4-4-2): Tyler Deric - Kofi Sarkodie, David Horst (Alexander Lopez 80), A.J. Cochran, DaMarcus Beasley - Boniek Garcia, Ricardo Clark (Jermaine Taylor 72), Luis Garrido, Brad Davis - Giles Barnes, Omar Cummings (Andrew Driver 67).

TEAM NEWS

• The Dynamo lost for the first time since Aug. 23 when they fell 3-0 to the Columbus Crew. Their five-game undefeated run (3-0-2) was their longest of the league campaign.
• “Unfortunately we didn’t come out of the gates well,” Brad Davis said. “I feel like we’ve allowed too many goals, or at least too many good chances right out of the locker room. That’s definitely something we would like to do better at. Tonight it’s the difference in the game.”
• “Just an attitude change,” said Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear. “I think we were chasing the game a little bit, pushing more guys forward and just had better possession and better movement.”
• The Dynamo were also shut out at the attacking end for the second time in three matches. The Dynamo have been shut out in each of their last three defeats.
• “Coming out of the first half [we] were just lackadaisical for a couple minutes and then 1-0 and then that’s about it,” said goalkeeper Tyler Deric. “ … I don’t know if that’s been our season so far, you know it’s just one of those things where we tried to come out sharp and everyone’s prepared but we just have to go out and do it.”
• Giles Barnes and Omar Cummings formed the strike partnership for a fifth consecutive match. Cummings came off the final quarter of the match, as Andrew Driver replaced him.
• There will be a change for certain for the Toronto FC match after Boniek Garcia was called into the Honduras national team for the FIFA international window. Driver started in place of Garcia when he last missed a match, Sept. 20 vs. Philadelphia.
• “We had some really good chances … we were pressing, we were pushing, it was one of those things where I think we really were spiraling when a goal down you know? I think we had a little bit of a low there at the end of the second half and obviously beginning of the first half,” Davis said. “So it was tough – I think we did have some chances there to definitely get ourselves back in the game, so, obviously very disappointed.”