WVHooligan - Soccer Blog

The last battle for El Capitan comes down to a game in Houston tonight as the Dynamo square off against their rivals from the north, FC Dallas. This MLS Primetime Thursday clash at Robertson Stadium should deside the season series between these two clubs. So far each game has ended in a draw, thanks to late goals by Houston in the final seconds of each game.

Those games were at a different time for FC Dallas. And to think, each game between the Dynamo will have Dallas having a different coach. The first meeting in Houston had Steve Morrow, the second in Dallas saw Marco Ferruzzi at the interim position, and tonight’s return to Houston will see new coach Schellas Hyndman. I don’t think we’ve ever seen a season series between two clubs that had one club have three different coaches.

Anyways, tonight’s battle should be interesting. Both have offenses that are looking to figure out what went wrong a week ago. Houston was blanked in Colorado in a 0-0 bash, while Dallas went on the road and lost to New York 1-0 in a game where they only had four shots on goal. Yikes.

Dallas has largely been terrible on the road this year and they’ve never won in Robertson Stadium (going 0-4-1). Hyndman has to push the right buttons in this one to get his club going again. Of course the growing pains are there in a new system but its clear he didn’t push the right ones on offense. He will need his offense tonight against one of the league’s best defenses.

I just don’t know if that will happen. I think Dallas can score but this season they haven’t shown the ability on a consistent basis to close out a game. You could easily say that three of Dallas’s four draws this season should have been wins had it not been for late goals given up. Or “soft goals” as Hyndman is calling them.

Either way I like Houston tonight at home. They are looking to find some consistent play of their own. A good way to start up again is against a rival that they’ve have absolutely owned at home.

I look for Dwayne De Rosario to lead the charge in this one for the Dynamo. It should be an interesting game but Houston should be able to pull away from Dallas for once this season and win El Captian for the third straight season.

WVH Prediction: Houston 3, Dallas 1