Commerce City – Defending MLS champion Houston, which visits Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Saturday night to take on the Western Conference-leading Rapids, has won once in four games and has scored only one goal. The Dynamo fell 1-0 at home Sunday to the undefeated Chicago Fire despite dominating possession for most of the game.
The Dynamo was unlucky against Chicago. A foul call nullified a Chicago own-goal, and the Fire might have gotten away with a handball in the penalty area. Houston hit the crossbar twice.
“Houston is a very competitive team, a team that likes to play very physical, a team that is going to test us for 90 minutes,” Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo said. “They’re struggling now, but that is going to change. We have to make sure it doesn’t happen in Colorado.”
Schedule challenges
The schedule has not been kind to FC Dallas, which is tied with Colorado atop the Western Conference. Sunday’s 1-0 home loss to New England marked the second time the team had to play three days after a Thursday ESPN2 game. It also played six games in April, while most teams in the league played four.
The Hoops, who get a welcome bye this weekend, are 2-3-1 and tied with the 2-1-1 Rapids with seven points in the standings. When they return to action at Kansas City on May 12, they get back goalkeeper Dario Sala, who was suspended six games for sucker-punching then-Rapids player Hunter Freeman last year in a season-ending playoff loss.
New York bulls onward
The New York Red Bulls have not yielded a goal in four games, breaking the league record for most minutes holding opponents scoreless to start a season. They could well add another 90 on Saturday night when they host winless Real Salt Lake, which replaced coach John Ellinger on Thursday with Jason Kreis.
Kreis, the MLS all-time leading scorer, retired as a player.
Guevara struggles
Temperamental Amado Guevara was a star in New York, winning an MLS scoring title and a league MVP award, but he is off to a slow start after a trade to Chivas USA. After being removed from Saturday’s 3-1 loss to the Galaxy in the 56th minute for lack of effort, he was red-carded for shoving an assistant referee on the sideline.
