Preview: Dynamo, RBNY collide with East top spot on line

HOUSTON DYNAMO vs NEW YORK RED BULLS
BBVA COMPASS STADIUM, Houston, Texas
August 3, 2012 (WEEK 22, MLS Game #206)
7 p.m. CT (NBC SN)

The Houston Dynamo and New York Red Bulls play the first of their crucial home-and-home series over the next two weeks when they meet Friday night at BBVA Compass Stadium. The Dynamo come in riding a four-game winning streak following a 2-0 win in Toronto last weekend, and still maintain an 18-game home unbeaten streak. The Red Bulls are coming off a 3-1 loss in Montréal to start a run of four road games out of six. The teams are separated by a single point atop the Eastern Conference.

REFEREE: Silviu Petrescu. SAR (bench): Jeff Muschik; JAR (opposite): Brian Poeschel; 4th: Kevin Terry Jr.

DOWNLOAD FULL GAME GUIDE HERE (PDF)

MLS Career: 50 games; FC/gm: 27.4; Y/gm: 3.7; R: 8; pens: 7

INJURY REPORT:

HOUSTON DYNAMO -- DOUBTFUL: FW Will Bruin (R calf contusion)
NEW YORK RED BULLS – OUT: DF Brandon Barklage (R hamstring strain); QUESTIONABLE: DF Heath Pearce (R hamstring strain)

INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: NY: Dax McCarty (caution accumulation; through Aug. 5)
WARNINGS:

SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: none
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: HOU: Calen Carr, Corey Ashe … NY: Kenny Cooper, Joel Lindpere

HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (13 meetings): Dynamo 2 wins, 14 goals … Red Bulls 4 wins, 15 goals … Ties 7
AT HOUSTON (6 meetings): Dynamo 2 wins, 10 goals … Red Bulls 0 wins, 5 goals … Ties 4
FUTURE MATCH: 8/10: New York Red Bulls vs. Houston Dynamo, 8 p.m. ET (NBC SN)

The teams are meeting for the second time this season, after a Kenny Cooper goal gave the Red Bulls a 1-0 victory May 9 at Red Bull Arena.
The Dynamo haven’t defeated New York since a 1-0 win May 31, 2008. The Red Bulls have won four of the 10 league and MLS Cup meetings since, with six draws.
The teams have played to draws in their last three league meetings in Houston. But the Red Bulls closed out their Robertson Stadium history having never a regular-season game there (0-2-4) – though they did win the second leg of their Eastern Conference Semifinal Series in 2008.
The Dynamo have never won at New York, with four losses and four draws in eight league and MLS Cup meetings all-time.
Coaches record: Dominic Kinnear vs. NY: P18 W5 L5 D8 … Hans Backe v HOU: P5 W2 L0 D3

LAST MEETING (MLS):
5/9: NY 1, HOU 0 (Cooper 7)

The game's lone goal came after seven minutes. Kenny Cooper raced onto a lazy back pass from Dynamo defender Corey Ashe, and deflected the ball into the back of the net as goalkeeper Tally Hall attempted to clear.
Red Bulls goalkeeper Ryan Meara was called upon to make three saves on the night in recording a third consecutive shutout.
NEW YORK RED BULLS (4-1-4-1): Ryan Meara - Brandon Barklage, Tyler Ruthven, Markus Holgersson, Connor Lade - Dax McCarty - Dane Richards, Mehdi Ballouchy (Juan Agudelo 46), Joel Lindpere, Jan Gunnar Solli (Roy Miller 87) - Kenny Cooper (Jhonny Arteaga 91+).
HOUSTON DYNAMO (4-4-2): Tally Hall - Jermaine Taylor, Geoff Cameron, Bobby Boswell, Corey Ashe - Calen Carr, Adam Moffat, Luiz Camargo (Alex Dixon 56), Brad Davis - Macoumba Kandji (Colin Clark 73), Cam Weaver (Will Bruin 61).

HOUSTON DYNAMO
The Houston Dynamo won their fourth consecutive match, going to BMO Field and coming away with a 2-0 win against Toronto FC on Saturday afternoon. The Dynamo are in a tie for second place in the Eastern Conference with 37 points from 22 games.

LAST MATCH
HIGHLIGHTS: TOR 0, HOU 2

The Dynamo struck just seconds before halftime. Brad Davis looped in a lovely corner to the near post and Bobby Boswell flicked it on to the back post, where an unmarked Calen Carr headed the ball into the bottom right corner.
The visitors doubled the margin with a late goal. Another Davis run down the left side cleared space in the middle, and he angled his cross back to an oncoming Brian Ching, who made no mistake and slotted home from the heart of the box.
Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear made two changes to the team that defeated the Montréal Impact 3-0 at BBVA Compass Stadium. Adam Moffat and Brad Daviscame into the side, in place of Jermaine Taylor and Luiz Camargo.
HOUSTON DYNAMO (4-3-3): Tally Hall - Warren Creavalle, Andre Hainault, Bobby Boswell, Corey Ashe (Kofi Sarkodie 78) - Boniek Garcia, Adam Moffat, Brad Davis - Calen Carr (Je-Vaughn Watson 83), Brian Ching, Macoumba Kandji (Luiz Camargo 74).

TEAM NEWS

The Dynamo four-game winning streak is one game away from the club record, set twice previously (June 3-24, 2007; May 23-June 13, 2009).
The Dynamo also won on the road for the first time since March 17, the second of back-to-back away wins to open the season. They had gone winless in nine road games (0-5-4).
Brad Davis has recorded back-to-back two-assist games and has five assists in the last three games. He is now tied for the MLS lead with 10 assists, with D.C. United’s Dwayne De Rosario.
“Good players find space. When he gets on the ball, he can have a direct impact on the game. He picked up a couple of assists tonight, off a corner and off a running play,” said Kinnear. “He’s playing good as of late and I think it’s one of the reasons we are winning some games right now.”
With Jermaine Taylor unable to travel to Canada with the club for personal reasons, André Hainault moved into central defense alongside Bobby Boswell.
“I’m happy to play wherever. I do enjoy playing center back but I enjoy when the games wins,” said Hainault. “When the team wins on the road and in Canada for the first time I’m really happy so I don’t worry about things like that.”
Rookie Warren Creavalle, who had started the last two matches in a holding role in midfield, moved to right back, where he made his first MLS start on June 10.
“Bobby [Boswell] and André did a great job of winning a lot of first balls and we needed to be there to make sure we didn’t give them anything,” Davis said. “We knew that was going to be part of their game plan and that we needed to disrupt that. I think we did a good job of that and were able to play out of pressure and move the ball and get opportunities and today we were able to take advantage of them.”
With leading scorer Will Bruin out of the starting lineup for the first time this season after suffering a calf strain, Brian Ching made his first start since June 23 and scored his fourth goal this season.
“We have the franchise leading goal scorer coming off the bench for us in Brian Ching so, to be totally honest, we’d love to have Will on the field but as we always say we’ve got plenty of guys that can step on and do the job,” said Davis. “I think Brian came on today and battled unbelievably hard, did a great job and got himself a goal.”

NEW YORK RED BULLS
The New York Red Bulls saw their quick two-game winning streak come to an end, falling 3-1 to the Montréal Impact on Saturday evening at Stade Saputo. The Red Bulls still lead the Eastern Conference, with 38 points from 22 games.

LAST MATCH

The Impact broke open the match early in the second half. First, in the 48th minute, Justin Mapp completed a passing movement with a first-time to an unmarked Marco Di Vaio on the left side of the area, and he put a low finish past New York goalkeeper Bill Gaudette.
The lead was doubled two minutes later when Felipe sent Davy Arnaud through behind the New York backline and in alone on goal. The Red Bulls ‘keeper did get a hand to the Impact skipper’s shot, but it ultimately found the back of the net.

HIGHLIGHTS: MTL 3, NY 1

New York pulled a goal back in the 57th minute when Joel Lindpere got to the endline and pulled a cross back for Thierry Henry at the far post, and he lofted a gentle touch over Impact 'keeper Donovan Ricketts as he came off his line.
But Montreal restored their cushion in the 75th minute when Sanna Nyassi capped another passing sequence by rounding Gaudette deep in the area and sliding home from a tight angle.
Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe made one change to the team that defeated Philadelphia Union 2-0 on Saturday afternoon at Red Bull Arena. Jan Gunnar Solli came into the back four for Brandon Barklage.
NEW YORK RED BULLS (4-4-2): Bill Gaudette - Jan Gunnar Solli, Markus Holgersson, Wilman Conde, Roy Miller - Sebastien Le Toux, Joel Lindpere (Victor Palsson 79), Dax McCarty, Connor Lade - Kenny Cooper, Thierry Henry

TEAM NEWS

The Red Bulls had recorded back-to-back shutouts after conceding 11 goals in the previous six matches.
“We didn’t show up the first five minutes,” Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe said. “You concede two goals on the road, you lose the game. Overall, when we got 2-1, it looked quite OK but overall it’s three terrible mistakes. You can’t concede like this. You lose games. Of course, I’m very disappointed.”
Jan Gunnar Solli returned to the lineup for the first time since June 30, starting at right back after Brandon Barklage was forced off after just 16 minutes in the Philadelphia match with a hamstring injury.
“Disappointment in the locker room,” said goalkeeper Bill Gaudette. “But the season is not over for us by any stretch. We have some important games coming up and we’re back to work. We get back to work and figure out our mistakes and move on.”
Joel Lindpere recorded an assist for the second consecutive match, and has four of his five assists on the season over the last eight matches.
Thierry Henry scored for the second time in three games, after going nearly three months without a league goal. He is now fourth in the MLS Golden Boot standings with 11 goals.
“We are still 11 points ahead. But I think at the end of the day it’s good for us sometimes to get a little slap. They played way better than us,” said Henry.
Before the match, the Red Bulls announced the acquisition of Australian international midfielder Tim Cahill, obtained from Everton FC of the English Premier League for a nominal transfer fee. At Everton since 2004, Cahill had made 278 appearances for the Toffees, scoring 68 goals over eight seasons with the club.
“He will play as one of two central midfield players,” said Backe. “ …Teemu Tainio (started) against Spurs and I'm really looking forward to seeing these two guys in central midfield. Tim can be the link to our strikers so he'll be involved a lot in our buildup and in our defending.”
On Tuesday, the Red Bulls faced Tottenham Hotspur FC of the EPL in a friendly at Red Bull Arena, dropping a 2-1 decision. New York took the lead eight minutes in on a Kenny Cooper penalty, but second-half goals from Gareth Bale and Gylfi Sigurdsson sent Spurs to the win.
Here’s the Red Bulls team: Bill Gaudette – Connor Lade, Markus Holgersson, Wilman Conde (Stephen Keel 46’), Roy Miller (Tyler Ruthven 84’), Teemu Tainio (Jan Gunnar Solli 46’), Dax McCarty, Joel Lindpere (Jonathan Borrajo 65’) , Tim Cahill (Victor Palsson 46’), Kenny Cooper (Jose Angulo 86’), Sebastien Le Toux (Jhonny Arteaga 65’)