Houston Dynamo seems to finally be turning the corner. After a bumpy start, the team has had a good run in the MLS and goes into Saturday's game against Sporting Kansas City riding a wave of momentum. They are unbeaten in four games and had three wins in the games just recently. The 3-0 win at NYCFC last Wednesday sealed the deal and gave the optimists in Houston a boost with the team now in the playoffs for the Western Conference.
Dynamo is in the ninth position with 20 points. Kansas City is, however, in a crisis and is at the 13th position with 13 points, tied with the conference's second-most defeated team, St. Louis City.
Houston time
Coach Ben Olsen seems to have achieved balance. The club won three of their previous four games and kept the opposing teams scoreless in all of them. Houston scored 16 goals in May and gained 10 points that put the club in the playoff hunt again.
Ezequiel Ponce leads the team offensively with a total of six goals, while Griffin Dorsey is the team's leading playmaker with two goals and six assists and the team leader in goal involvements.
Face-to-face builds confidence
Overall in the series, the Houston ledger is even at 14 victories for Houston and Sporting and 14 victories for Sporting and Houston, and each side has scored 60 goals in the 48 games since 2011 and had 16 draws. Of greater significance is the history of the past year. Houston is unbeaten in its past six home games against Sporting, including a 1-1 draw in the opener last year and a 2-1 road victory later in 2023.
Dynamo won the regular season campaign last year as well, with a draw and a win against the rival team, results that show that while history against the teams is equal, the momentum now belongs to the Texans.
Sporting Kansas City has an issue
SKC is not experiencing smooth sailing. The team is yet to find its rhythm under caretaker manager Kerry Zavagnin. They drew three games in a row, the latest being the 3-3 draw with New England Revolution at the weekend in a game full of twists and turns. Joveljic is top-scoring with seven goals and assist, and is the top attacking name of the team. The team travels a lot and the consistency is a big issue, and especially the performances away from home. The team has made six trips in the past eight games and did not win any of the past six travels to Shell Energy Stadium. The away performance is clearly something the coaches are concerned about.