Sporting Kansas City vs. Houston Dynamo | MLS Match Preview

MLSsoccer staff

Sporting Kansas City vs. Houston Dynamo
Sporting Park, Kansas City, Kan.
August 1, 2015 (MLS Game #218)
8:30 pm ET (MLS LIVE, KMCI-38, ROOT Sports SW)

A critical match in the chase for playoff positioning kicks off when Sporting Kansas City return home to take on the Houston Dynamo on Saturday at Sporting Park. Sporting lost for just the second time in three months last time out, falling 2-1 at Real Salt Lake, and now sit just a point ahead of sixth place in the division. The Dynamo are five points out of sixth and the final postseason position, coming off a dominant 3-0 win against the LA Galaxy at BBVA Compass Stadium last weekend.

Benny Feilhaber scored for a second consecutive game, but Sporting saw their three-game winning streak in league play put to an end in a 2-1 defeat at Real Salt Lake last Friday. Over his last seven games in league play, dating back to May 29, Feilhaber has 4 goals and 3 assists.
Brad Davis and Leonel Miranda scored their first goals this season, and Will Bruin added his ninth, as the Dynamo won for a second time in three games in a 3-0 defeat of the LA Galaxy at BBVA Compass Stadium last Saturday.
The teams are meeting for the third time this season, the second in league play. Benny Feilhaber scored two goals for Sporting KC, the second deep into second-half added time, to leave the teams in a wild 4-4 draw April 25 at BBVA Compass Stadium. In a US Open Cup quarterfinal on July 21, Kansas City rallied from a 1-0 deficit in the final 20 minutes to eliminate 10-man Houston by a 3-1 score.
The home team has not won in the series in the last five regular-season meetings. Each team won at the other’s home ground in the two matchups a season ago. Sporting won 2-0 at BBVA Compass Stadium on June 6, and the Dynamo returned the favor with a 3-1 victory Aug. 29 at Sporting Park.
The teams met in the playoffs three consecutive seasons from 2011-13, with the winner (Houston in 2011-12, Kansas City in 2013) going on to the Eastern Conference championship each time; both moved to the Western Conference for the 2015 season.

REFEREE: Jorge Gonzalez. AR1 (bench): Corey Parker; AR2 (opposite): Ian Anderson; 4th: Younes Marrakchi
Gonzalez MLS Career: 120 games; FC/gm: 25.2; Y/gm: 3.3; R: 37; pens: 31

SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: KC: Soni Mustivar, Dom Dwyer, Benny Feilhaber … HOU: Ricardo Clark, Kofi Sarkodie, Jermaine Taylor, Giles Barnes, Raul Rodriguez
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: KC: Roger Espinoza, Kevin Ellis … HOU: Sheanon Williams
DISABLED LIST: KC: Ike Opara
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none

HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (21 meetings): Sporting 5 wins, 26 goals … Dynamo 7 wins, 29 goals … Ties 9
AT KC (10 meetings): Sporting 2 wins, 12 goals … Dynamo 4 wins, 13 goals … Ties 4
FUTURE MATCH: 9/23: Houston Dynamo vs. Sporting Kansas City, 7:30 p.m. CT