Fast start will be critical in return home
Two sides in need of a win face each other on Saturday at PNC Stadium.
Coming off a recent defeat, Houston (5-7-3) sits three places below the playoff line and two points behind Seattle for the final spot in MLS’ Western Conference. Chicago occupies the cellar in the Eastern Conference, winning last weekend for the first time in nearly three months.
“I don’t think we take any teams for granted,” Dynamo defender Adam Lundkvist said. “We need to get back to what we’ve been doing before the (international) break in order to get back to our winning ways.
“This game is more about us than the team we’re facing. We want to come out aggressive, on the right foot. We want to use this game as a stepping board to the rest of the year.”
Chicago (3-7-5) has only three wins over 15 games. Despite its poor record, Chicago is a team that presents challenges. The Fire are strong on set pieces, and the Dynamo concede a good number of free kicks and corners. Gaston Gimenez is a reliable playmaker for a club that crosses the ball a lot to its big forwards.
Back from his injury with the Switzerland national team, the Fire’s Xherdan Shaqiri is available for selection. The midfielder has produced three goals and three assists.
“Good team, but we have a good idea of how they like to play and approach the game,” Dynamo coach Paulo Nagamura said. “When it comes to Saturday night, it’s about us, about our team. We have a sense of urgency to come out in our stadium and dictate the play.”
Chicago, which is 1-5-2 on the road, returned from the break last weekend with a 1-0 home victory over D.C. United, breaking a 10-game winless run.
Saturday is the Dynamo’s first home game since May 18 — the day of their most recent victory. Houston is 3-2-3 at home.
“We’ve been away for many games so it’s going to be very nice to be back home in front of our fans,” Lundkvist said. “We want to give them a good performance so that we can set the tone for the rest of the season.”
The match with the Fire is the first of three in seven days for the Dynamo. The three-game stretch includes a midweek trip to face the Portland Timbers. Houston returns to PNC on July 3 to host Charlotte FC.
Sebastian Ferreira scored the Dynamo’s lone goal in last weekend’s 2-1 loss at Orlando City SC. His six goals lead the club.
“Sebas is in amazing form right now and we need to reward him with better service,” said Lundkvist, who has three assists over the past 10 games. “Put the ball in the box and he will score.
“He’s shown how high his ceiling is. It’s up to us to move the ball fast enough and find him in those spots when he can hurt opponents. We need to give him the ball so that he can score even more goals than he’s already scored.”
The Dynamo are hopeful of continuing the momentum of their secondhalf performance in Orlando. The Dynamo nearly scored the equalizer in the final minutes, but a bicycle kick from Darwin Quintero which found the back of the net, was ruled offside.
Against Orlando, Houston made five substitutions in the second half beginning with the addition of defensive help with Daniel Steres and Darwin Ceren entering. To provide an offensive spark, Tyler Pasher, Quintero and Thor Ulfarsson came in.
Houston’s second-half performance could be a confidence booster. The Dynamo generated four shots on target in the half, two that hit the crossbar. Houston had 10 shots against Orlando in the half, more than three times the total from the first half.
Nagamura is stressing a sense of urgency in getting quality starts of games,
“We addressed that with the players,” Nagamura said. “That was one of the biggest things that let us down against Orlando. It’s a big part of how we want to play. Hopefully that will show up on Saturday.”